Four Again
by FairyLover01
Summary: I know, lots of people have done this before, but it's my first fanfic! Hope you enjoy it! Lucy is turned into a four year old and Natsu takes care of her, but...something happens to her and he's hella mad. ;) NaLu story! Enjoy! Rated T for language in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.**

 **I am dedicating this story to my best friend of six years now, Shanté. She has helped my through a lot. She has been there when no one else has, and through my bad times and good times. Like I said in that thing we did in year five, 'I hope we are best friends untill we are old and wrinkly'. You truly are my best friend. :)**

-Chapter 1-

It was a normal day in the guild, Fairy Tail. It was loud, rambunctious and there were brawls starting everywhere. The usual. Natsu was sitting at the bar talking to Mirajane and Happy about the latest mission they went on, waiting for his favourite Celestial Mage to show up. Then suddenly the guild doors burst open and Loke, Lucy's most powerful Celestial Spirit, came bursting in holding what looked like a small girl in his arms. He had a frantic look on his face. As soon as Natsu spotted him, he shot up out of his seat and ran over with a worried look on his face.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu demanded in distress. "She-She's here," Loke held up his arms for Natsu to see. "What the hell happened to her?!" He shouted, rage taking over.

"When I came out of the Spirit World, I found her like this, all bruised and scratched in the forest!" The Lion Spirit explained frantically. "You _what_?!" Natsu screamed, taking the child into his arms and holding her protectively.

"I sensed something was going on and I came out to see if she was okay, and like I said, found her like this! So I then ran all the way here!" Loke explained again. "What is going on?!" Erza came and pushed everyone back so she could see, Gray right behind her.

Natsu stood there with a look of pure rage on his face, glaring at nothing in particular. "It's Lucy," Loke told the Re-quip mage. "Get Wendy!" Natsu barked out. Everyone started shouting for the young healer. When she emerged from the infirmary, gasping at what she saw.

"What happened?" She asked, a look of worry crossing her features. "Loke found her like this," The Fire Dragon Slayer supplied the information for the girl. Natsu looked down at the girl in his arms and looked at her face, _how could someone do this?_

When they arrived in the infirmary, Natsu gently put the Celestial Mage down in one of the beds, but stayed by her side. Wendy then started to examine her and when she finished examining her, she said, "We need to get Levy in here. She can do a better job at examining her,". The said girl went up to Lucy and started to read a book with her Gale-Force glasses.

"She's been put under a spell," The blue-haired girl explained, "What kind of spell?" Natsu inquired. "It's a spell that makes the person the caster wishes, turn into a four year old again. It's says, that the victim of the spell will be stuck a child for 2-6 months!". Everybody froze at that statement.

"How do we get rid of the spell?" Gray asked, worried for his teammate, "There is no current cure for it. The only way for her to get back to normal is wait for it to wear off," Levy told them. Every one was silent, thinking of some other way to get by this. "Well, if that's the case, then... who is gonna look after her?" Erza asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to.

"I could do it!"

"No, I'll do it!"

"What about me?!"

"SHUT UP!" Everyone was silent at the Fire Mage's outburst. "I'll look after Lucy," he simply stated. No-one wanted to argue with the angry Dragon Slayer, so they all nodded their heads in agreement. "We will stay at her house and look after her, right Happy?"

"Aye, sir!" The blue Exceed replied in a happy tone. The girl on the bed suddenly stirred and jolted up. "Mama!" She screamed and everyone covered their ears and cringed. Natsu was the first to react and sat down next to the crying girl.

He wrapped his arms around her small figure and cradled her. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe with me," he said in a gentle voice. Everyone was surprised at the action and either stared or left the room, giving them some privacy. "Natsu?" She whispered into his chest, "Yeah, it's me," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "You liiike her," Happy said out of no-where. "Shut up," the Salamander retorted, sending the cat to go sulk at the bar, saying how he was being mean.

They were silent for a while, until her sobs died down to mere sniffles. "Who were all those people?" She asked, his eyes widened. She didn't remember?

"They are your friends," he replied, the girl nodding. "What do you remember before waking up?" He asked. "I-I don't remember anything except you," she whispered. He was surprised, to say the least. "Anything else? Like if you saw anyone or anything?" He said in a questioning manner. She shook he head no.

She got off him and wiped her nose and eyes. Natsu looked down at her and sighed. What was he going to do?

He stood up and went to pick her up, he realized that she was only wrapped in her shirt that she, he assumed, was going to wear to the guild that day. He panicked and quickly picked her up and ran down the stairs, to where Mira was. "Mira! We need to go and get her some clothes!" He shouted. "What do you mean, Ash For Brains?" Gray asked.

"You wanna go, stripper?!"

"Anytime, Flame Head!"

"Are you two fighting?" Erza inquired. They immediately hooked their arms over the others shoulder and said "No, Erza!"

"Good, now what were you going to ask, Natsu?"

"Uh, we need to go clothes shopping for Luce," he replied. "I would love to go with you!" Mira suddenly piped up. "Erm, I-I guess?" It was more of a question than an answer. Mira squealed in excitement and nearly fainted. In the mean time, Lucy was on Natsu's hip clinging onto his scarf like a life line and was staring at all the strange people. She tugged on his scarf to get his attention.

"Natsu?" She asked in a small voice. He looked down at the small child in his arms and replied, "Yeah, Luce?"

"I wanna go home," she answered. "Uh, Sure. We can go home," he replied in a gentle voice. She softly smiled up at him, everyone cooing and awing in the background.

"Happy, you coming?" Natsu shouted over to the blue cat, "Yeah," the Exceed replied.

Natsu started to walk out of the guild doors when he heard Erza yell, "Make sure you take good care of her, or else!" And he replied with a shaky, "Aye, sir!"

They started to walk home under the stars when he felt a small weight on his chest and looked down to see a head of blonde hair leaning on his chest with the end of his scaly White scarf clutched in one of her small fists. _Don't worry, I'll make sure whoever did this to you will pay._

 **-A/N-**

 **first chapter, yeah! Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter coming at you!**

 _-Chapter 2-_

When they got to Lucy's apartment, he went straight to her room and laid her on the bed. "Hey Happy, do you think she would have kids clothes?" The fire mage asked his cat that was currently in Lucy's arms, "I dunno, maybe?" He replied in a sleepy manner. Natsu then pulled out one of her over-sized shirts and put it on her, so it looked like a big dress. He then took his sandals off and sat on the bed next to his partners.

A million thoughts were rushing trough his head at once, he didn't know what to do with a kid. He knows it's Lucy, but still, she's a kid! He doesn't have experience. He was always afraid that when he would get too close to a kid or something, he would hurt them and that they would then hate him forever.

He was so deep in thought that he missed the little movement the said girl made, whispering "Natsu..."

He was still thinking when she said a bit louder, "Natsu," and then tears started to prick the corners of her closed eyes as she missed his familiar heat and sense of comfort and safety. A small sob escaped the sleeping girls lips and that's when the dragon slayer noticed she was crying. "Hey, hey, I'm still here," He said while gently moving her under the covers so that he could get under the blanket as well.

"Na-tsu...h-help..." he gathered her in his arms and was stroking her hair and whispering in a soothing manner, "Its okay, it's gonna be okay. I'm here, I'll protect you," and that seemed to do the trick. She almost instantly stopped crying and it made him smile slightly. He eventually drifted off into the realm of sleep.

The next morning, Natsu woke up to the growl of his stomach. He cracked an eye open and realised he was in Lucy's house. _Why am I here?...oh, yeah! Lucy!_

He felt slight weight on his stomach and chest, he looked down and saw a head of blonde hair. He looked to the side and out the window to try and see roughly what time it was. His guess was around ten o'clock.

He took one of his arms that were draped over her form off and scratched his head and put it behind it and sighed in content. Out the corner of his eye he saw Happy curled up next to his head on the pillow.

Lucy then stirred and lifted her head up and looked at him with curiosity and awe in her big brown eyes. "Natsu?" She asked in a soft voice. "Yeah?" He replied, looking down at her.

"I'm hungry," she stated, with a small pout. He sighed and said, "Yeah, me too. Let's go get some breakfast, yeah?" She replied, "But I want to stay here, it's warm and comfy,".

"Well, do you want me to go get some instead?" He suggested, don't get him wrong, he wanted to stay as well but, he was hungry too. "I want you to stay with me, though," she said in a small voice. He huffed, starting to get a bit annoyed, "Well, you can come with me, how 'bout it?"

"Yeah!" She agreed happily. He then gently put her next to him on the bed and sat up to stretch, a sigh flying out of his lips. Lucy then sat cross legged and put her arms up, indicating she wanted to be lifted up. Natsu then put his hands under her arm pits and hoisted her up to his hip.

"I see the scratches have healed up, but I'm not sure about the bruises. Does anywhere hurt, Lucy?" He asked in a soft voice. "No," She lied, she only did it cause she didn't want him to worry. "Okay, what do you want for breakfast?" He asked. "Pancakes!" She shouted in glee. "How about we go to the guild and have Mirajane make some? She is way better than me!" He suggested, hoping to get her to the guild so he and Mira can go buy some clothes for her.

"Okay," was all she said. "Why don't you wake Happy up, while I go to the bathroom?" He suggested. "Sure," she replied, already distracted with her mission on waking the blue Exceed up. Natsu walked into the bathroom to do his business. When he came out he saw that instead of waking him up, she fell asleep with him wrapped tightly in her arms.

He sighed and bent down to put his sandals on and pick the girl up. It was a nice day today, there was a clear sky, everyone was in a happy mood and he was content.

-A/N-

 **Thank you far all the reviews and I'll update as soon as I'm able to! Don't forget to follow and favorite the story! Thanks! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**'Nother one coming at ya!**

-Chapter 3-

"We're back!" The Fire Dragon Slayer yelled, bursting through the guild doors and scaring some people. Everyone greeted him and walked to the bar and sat down putting Lucy in his lap, ordering the pancakes. "Coming right up!" Mira announced, she then walked to the back room and came back a short while later with two plates of pancakes and set them in front of Natsu.

"Thanks, Mira!" He said with a bright smile. Before he started to dig in, he woke Happy up and turned the sleeping girl around in his lap and gently jostled her awake. "Wake up, sleepy head," he said to Lucy and she woke up, instantly looking at the pancakes. While the little scene played out, they didn't notice all the stares or hear all the awing and cooing that was happening behind them.

"Yay! Pancakes!" She shouted in utmost happiness. Natsu just laughed and started to eat his pancakes. "Can you help me?" The little blonde asked in embarrassment, "Sure, what do ya need?" Natsu replied. "I can't cut it," Lucy said in a small voice. Natsu, understanding what she meant, gripped her knife and fork and started to cut the pancakes for her. "Thank you!" She said and started to eat happily.

"So Natsu, how's looking after Lucy?" Gray asked curiously. "It's fine," he replied. "I'm surprised that she's still alive, with you taking care of her," Gray said nonchalantly, "You wanna go, stripper?!" Natsu retorted in anger.

"I can take you down anytime, Ash Brains!"

"In your dreams, Ice Princess!"

What they didn't notice was how Lucy was getting scared and was curling up into a ball and clinging onto Natsu's Scarf, quivering slightly. When the argument started to get heated, Natsu's grip on her tightened, and she let out a small whimper. There were tears in the corners of her eyes, she didn't know what was going on or who these people were.

But Natsu's careful hearing caught onto the small sound and he looked down at the blonde that was still in his lap. He saw the tears in her eyes and that's when he turned her into his chest and hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Gray is just an idiot," he hushed, trying to calm her down. "See what you did? You made Lucy cry!" The Dragon Slayer shouted in anger.

"I didn't do it! You started to shout!" Gray retorted, also getting angry. "Only because you got me angry!" Natsu shouted, starting another argument between the mages. Natsu almost forgot who was in his arms and stopped, ignoring the Ice Make Mage. "Tch, idiot," Gray mumbled, Natsu heard but decided to ignore it, focusing on the girl in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked in worry. "I'm scared," she whispered. "I'll protect you Luce," He hushed her. They then began to eat their pancakes without fault.

"Man, that was good!" The pink haired fire mage sighed in content, leaning back on the stool. "Thank you, it was really nice," Lucy mumbled, still getting used to all the different people. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," the girl, she found called Mira, replied happily.

Natsu then lifted Lucy into his arms and walked off to their usual table where Erza and Gray were currently at, discussing their next mission. "Hey, what's up guys?" Natsu greeted casually, sitting down again keeping Lucy in his lap. The other two occupants at the table looked up and nodded in response.

"When's the next mission?" The Fire Dragon asked innocently. "You won't be able to come with us, you have to take care of Lucy," Erza responded monotonously. "Sure we can! I'll protect her and make sure she is safe while we do it!" Natsu retorted stubbornly. "Promise you will make sure nothing happens to her," Erza reasoned, "I promise with everything I can, I'll protect her with my life," He responded seriously.

"Fine, you can come with," The Re-Quip mage relented. "Yosh! I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted. While the conversation was happening, Lucy was looking around at all the strange faces. When she looked at the guild's front doors, a fellow guild member walked in and when the door was closing, she saw a mysterious shadowed figure in the background.

She blinked and when she looked, it was gone. _It was probably nothing_ , she thought and continued to play with Happy's paws.

Not long after this, they were on their way to the train station.

"I vote we walk!" Natsu was complaining, miraculously still holding up Lucy, who was now in some new clothes that some of the guild girls handed him.

"NO!" Was his only reply. He sighed in frustration and continued to walk with his small group. When they reached the station, he immediately turned green. "Urgh..." he mumbled slumping over ever so slightly, as to not crush the now sleeping four year old in his arms.

"You'll be fine, geez," Gray reprimanded the Dragon Slayer. When the train arrived, they got into one of the booths that they usually rode in. Natsu then laid down on the seat across from them on his back with Lucy on his chest. She then proceeded to curl into the fatal position but remained asleep.

He wrapped his arms securely around his best friend and fell into a peaceful sleep.

 **-A/N-**

 **woah, 2 updates in one day? Man, crazy, yo!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This ones a short chapter, sorry!**

-Chapter 4-

"...Natsu...-im up...NATSU!" He heard Gray's voice above him and he instantly sat up, forgetting about the unfortunate Celestial Mage, but thanks to his Dragon-Like reflexes, he caught her sleeping form just in time. "What?!" He cried, exasperated. "It's our stop, stupid!" Ice Princess replied.

"Yes! The horrible contraption stopped!" He shouted in glee, rushing out of the train carriage. "Mm, what's happening?" The little girl asked in curiosity. "We're at the town of our mission," Erza replied calmly. "Oh," was all she said in return.

"This way," Erza was leading the group to a nice looking two story house. "Looks nice," Gray commented, "Almost too nice," Natsu replied in a suspicious tone, shifting Lucy so she was on his shoulders, holding her ankles securely.

When they walked up the steps and to the front door, before Erza could knock, the door swung open and there appeared a short man, wearing a dark cloak. "Hello, we have come for the mission you requested?" Erza asked to make sure it was the right house.

"Ah, yes. The Fairy Tail wizards. Come, come," the man had a sort of scratchy voice, but they thought nothing of it. Woah, it looked completely different from the outside! Natsu thought in astonishment.

They were lead deeper into the creepy looking house and were told to sit on the old, beat up red couch. Natsu moved Lucy to his lap and wrapped protective arms around her. She was looking a bit afraid of the sudden change in environment, but relaxed when he wrapped his arms around her.

"The mission you have taken up is a problem we have been having for quite some time," the old geezer started. "Yes, we noticed and took it for a small amount of money and an easy job that we all could do," Erza spoke for the rest of the group. The short man then looked over to Lucy, staring at her as if trying to look into her soul. Natsu tightened his grip on her and almost glared back at the man.

The room then became tense and they returned back to their previous conversation, with the man introducing himself as Michael, Natsu's grip not loosening one bit.

The mission was simple; go take out these bandits and be done. Oh, how wrong they were.

 **-A/N-**

 **ooh, cliffhanger! Find out what happens in the next chapter! For now, Don't Forget To Be Awesome! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heres another update! This ones a bit longer, hope ya enjoy!**

-Chapter 5-

"Man, where are these stupid bandits anyways?!" Natsu grumbled in annoyance. As if answering his outburst, a big group of random men surrounded them. Natsu told Happy to take Lucy up and keep her there until it was over. "Make sure nothing happens to her!" The Fire Dragon Slayer ordered, "Aye, sir!" The blue Exceed responded, lifting Lucy up by the back of her shirt.

When Natsu was sure she was at a safe distance, he pounded his right fist into his left palm saying, "I'm all fired up, now!"

Erza summoned two swords and started to attack the ones in front of her. Gray was making different weapons from his Ice-Make abilities. "Fire Dragon's ROAR!" Natsu yelled, firing at the enemies.

While this was happening, they didn't notice when one of them was aiming a fist sized rock at Happy and Lucy. The rock struck Happy and he accidentally let go of the blonde girl. "HAPPY!" Lucy screamed, while falling rapidly at the ground. Natsu instantly looked up and saw Lucy falling. "LUCY!" He shouted her name in a panic.

He quickly dived out and caught her just before hitting the ground. He manoeuvred them so that he was underneath and cradled her head with his hand and tugged her close to his body, acting as a shield. "Urgh!" He grunted when they hit the ground. He laid there for a few seconds, catching his breath.

"You okay, Luce?" He asked as he slowly sat up. "Mmmm..." she mumbled. He snapped his head up, " _Who threw that?!_ " He growled, voice full of venom. The man that threw the stone, backed away slowly, "L-Look man, I wasn't planning o-on it to hit the cat!" He rambled nervously. Natsu stood up, his pink bangs covering his eyes in shadows.

"You still threw the damn thing! You're gonna pay!" He growled out before handing Lucy to Erza and pouncing forward, taking them all out in a matter of seconds. He was panting when he was finished and walked over to the others. "Natsu, are you alright?" Erza questioned.

"I'm fine, people like that just piss me off," he replied casually, taking Lucy back and hugging her tightly. "Jeez, remind me never to get on your bad side," Gray mumbled. "Popsicle, you're already there," the Dragon Slayer replied, nonchalantly. Gray rolled his eyes.

They walked on in silence, back to the old geezer's home.

When they reached the doors, it swung open again before Gray could even raise his fist. "Ah, you're back," the man said a bit hurriedly. He handed them their reward money and said a quick thanks and closed the door, but not before he glanced at Lucy.

"That was weird," Lucy commented, "I don't like the way he looked at Luce," Natsu said grumpily to the other two. "He was probably just curious that we brought a kid with us," was Gray's laid back reply. "I dunno..." Natsu trailed off. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

They were on their way to the train station when Lucy started to shiver and pulled herself closer to Natsu's side. He noticed and picked her up off the ground and onto his hip. She was grateful for the welcoming warmth and nestled into his side. Happy, getting tired of flying, landed on top of Natsu's head and closed his eyes.

They were on the train when it was turning dark. The sunset reminded Lucy of her mum, when she was alive. It was warm, like she was. She missed her so much, that she didn't realise when the tears started to fall.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Her best friend asked worriedly. "Oh, just thinking," the little blonde replied, shrugging her tiny shoulders. "Well, stop thinking then," He replied, shifting so that he was laying down again, face still a bit green. "Okay," Lucy simply replied and used his chest as a pillow.

The next time she woke up, it was when Natsu and her were seemingly walking back to her apartment. He was holding her with his arm under her and his freehand supporting her back. "What time is it?" She whispered sleepily. "Time that you be sleeping, Luce," he replied, sounding a bit tired.

She laid her head back down again and closed her eyes, but not falling asleep. She listened to his even breathing. When they arrived at her apartment, he climbed up to her window with ease. He turned her bedroom light on and sat her on the bed.

He grabbed her a set of red pyjamas with little black dragons all over, "Do you want a bath?" He asked. "M'kay," was her sleepy reply. He picked her up and brang her into the bathroom. He turned the bath on and then began to take off the clothes she was wearing that day, unfazed by her unclothed body because he had seen her naked multiple times on accident, and dipped her into the warm water.

He washed her hair, gently massaging her hair and washed the soap out. He then proceeded to gently wash her body. She was half asleep when he was drying her and dressing her.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" He asked softly. "No thank you," Lucy replied cutely. "Okay," he whispered. Natsu put Lucy on the bed gently and started to take off his shoes. The Fire Dragon Slayer shrugged off his vest and got under the blankets, bringing the little girl with him. He was laying on his side when Lucy cuddled up next to him and he put a protective arm over her small form, then curled around her.

 **-A/N-**

 **Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I know it might not be many, but that makes me happy nonetheless! Thank you so much for the feedback and everything! I'll try and update when I can! Untill then, don't forget to be awesome!**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX INCOMING!**

-Chapter 6-

It has been a week from when Lucy first was put under the age spell. They were currently at Fairy Tail, talking at their usual table.

"What did you say, Ice Box?!" Natsu Dragneel yelled at his rival/best friend.

"What are you talking about, Fire Freak?!" Gray Fullbuster retorted to the riled up Dragon Slayer. "Please stop," Lucy Heartfilia asked, being trapped on Natsu's lap by his muscular arms.

"Fine," they both growled at the same time. Erza was sitting next to Gray on the other side of the table happily eating her strawberry cake, completely oblivious to her surroundings. "When are we going on another mission!" Natsu complained, fiddling with Lucy's small hands.

"Soon, we can choose one when I finish my cake," Titania replied, already half way through her cake. "Yosh! Finally!" He celebrated. Lucy carefully took Natsu's arms from around her and sat next to the Fire Mage, finally free from his grasp. He reluctantly let her go and started stuffing his face with food.

Without him noticing, she slipped from their table and went over to Levy's table where Gajeel, Jet and Droy were seated. "Hello," she said bravely, sitting next to the Bluenette. "Hey Lucy!" She replied happily, "I see you have finally gotten out of Natsu's arms, huh?"

"Yeah, it was kinda getting a bit annoying," the Celestial Spirit Mage replied, looking through one of the stacks of Levy's books. "I can kinda tell," Levy responded absentmindedly. Lucy looked up and saw Gajeel's long black hair. "Excuse me, can I please braid your hair?" She asked curiously, but a bit fearfully. "What?" He grunted.

"I wanna do your hair," she repeated quietly. "Oh, yes! That would be absolutely adorable!" Levy interjected. "No," was the Iron Dragon Slayer's reply. "Please, Gajeel? Let her do it!" Levy defended the little girl. She gave him her puppy eyes and he knew he wouldn't last long.

" _Fine_ ," he said, reluctantly. He shifted so that the little girl could access his long hair. "Yay!" Lucy cheered. She went over to the other side of the table and sat next to him. She was a bit short, so she ended up standing instead of sitting. Gajeel tried not to notice the shocked looks he got from people and felt Bunny Girl's little hands start to play with his long hair.

Meanwhile, a bit after she left, Natsu was still stuffing his face when he noticed a little somebody wasn't beside him anymore. He panicked and looked around quickly. He looked at the bar, at the upper story and behind him. "Luce?" He called out, there was no reply. He then got up and started searching for her.

He was at the bar when he saw a head of golden hair and saw her at Levy's table, doing something with Gajeel's hair. He felt a sudden wave of jealousy and a need to protect her, even if she was with fellow guild mates. He quickly walked over to her.

When she was half way done with a braid, she was suddenly hoisted up and tugged away from the back of Gajeel. "What do you think you're doing, Luce?" Natsu appeared, putting an arm underneath her. "I wanted to do his hair," she said quietly, afraid she would get into trouble for leaving him.

Natsu burst out laughing, gripping his stomach. "HAHA that's hilarious!" He said in between laughs. Lucy looked down in shame, "I think it was cute!" Levy piped up, "Don't you think, Gajeel?" She asked. He grunted in reply and looked away in boredom.

"I'm sorry," Lucy apologised to Natsu. "Nah, it's fine. I was just a little worried, that's all," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He then said goodbye to the others and went back over to their table, placing her on the table top so that she was facing him. "Just don't go anywhere without telling me, Kay?" He requested. "Aye, sir!" She replied. He gave her a toothy smile and returned to talking with Erza and Gray.

It was pretty late at night when they started heading off. Lucy was on Natsu's shoulders, slumped over his head of soft pink hair and asleep. Happy was perched on his right shoulder next to Lucy's leg. It was a silent walk, when suddenly, a short cloaked figure jumped out of a nearby alleyway.

"Can I help you?" Natsu asked, cautiously. "Yes, yes you can. You can do that by giving me the girl," the mysterious figure replied with a familiar scratchy voice. "No way in hell!" Natsu stood his ground. "Very well," the man then revealed his face and it was non other than the man from that mission!

 **-A/N-**

 **Cliffhanger! I would like to give a shout out to halliegirl cause she had helped me (indirectly) be not so nervous about posting this and telling me that, basically, there isn't enough of these kinds of fanfics and that it's not over-done. Thank you! I would also like to say thanks to Marie086 for the feedback and I'll try to make them a bit longer for ya! Thanks to all the other reviews as Well! Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	7. Chapter 7

**LOOK WHOS COMING! THATS RIGHT, CHAPTER SEVEN!**

-Chapter 7-

After the dude revealed himself, around about twenty other men surrounded them and were closing in. _I have to get Lucy outta here!_ Natsu thought hurriedly, trying to find a way to get her to safety.

He ran straight and barrelled through the thin wall of men and straight back to the guild hall. When it was in sight, he tripped up but caught himself before Lucy fell off his shoulders. He took her into his arms and tried running again to the guild, but was stopped by a strange force. "Why can't I move?! Aarrgh!" Natsu grunted and tried moving, but to no avail. Lucy was still asleep in his arms and Happy had flown off a while ago saying something about getting Carla a fish.

The short man waltzed up to him and got one of his goons to take Lucy from him. They had trouble with the 'Taking Lucy' part though, because he had such a tight hold on her and he was doing anything his frozen state could do, which wasn't much. "Don't you touch her!" He screamed, and a very colourful line of obcesecties escaped the Dragon Slayer's mouth. Lucy stirred and opened her eyes when she was pulled from his strong grip, bit was put back to sleep by some sleep spell the short man put on her, receiving many more death threats from Natsu.

Lucy was then promptly chucked over the shoulder of one of the men and taken away. Natsu was knocked out before they went off and left on the ground in a heap. "Lucy..." he mumbled.

When Lucy awoke, she was in a dark, prison like cell. The ground was damp and stone, as was the walls. There was a metal barred door trapping her from freedom. She sat up, but instantly slumped against the back wall. Her head was pounding and she hurt all over. _Where am I? Where's Natsu?_ She thought in a daze. Her vision was a bit hazy, but when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw there was blood on the ground.

There were footsteps outside her cell and they were coming closer. They stopped right outside and the dark figure turned and looked at her. She kept still in fear of what they were going to do to her.

One of the minions that were following him, unlocked the door and the leader strode in. He walked over to her and stood in front of her, towering over her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" His menacing voice scared her further. She gulped, but said nothing. "Answer me, stupid girl!" He yelled, slapping her across the face. Her head hit the back wall, effectively knocking her out. "Bring her to The Examination Room," their leader ordered and left the room soon after.

When Natsu woke up, he was in the guild's infirmary. He slowly looked around at his surroundings. He tried to ignore the pain that was in his head and sat up. When he sat up, Mira walked in with a tray of food, "You're awake!" She cried out on surprise. "Where's Lucy?!" He got straight to the point.

"When we found you, she wasn't with you," Mira explained, trying to calm him down. "I'll kill that bastard!" Natsu started to shout in rage. "Who?" Mira asked. "It was the bastard that kept looking at Lucy!" The angry Dragon Slayer replied.

"That man we spoke to in our recent mission? Yeah, he seemed to look at Lucy a lot," Gray agreed, walking in with Erza in tow.

"I agree with Gray. We should visit him again and question him," Erza stated.

"He already took Lucy!" Natsu shouted frantically. He wanted to get out of there ASAP and try to find Lucy.

"Try not to do anything stupid," The bar maid replied, packing away her medical supplies. Natsu immediately threw off the blanket and sprinted out of there with Erza and Gray right behind him.

When Lucy woke up next, she was strapped down to one of those creepy hospital beds in those cliche horror movies. She tried to wiggle her small hands out, but to no avail.

"That's useless, little girl," The dark voice from before said from the shadows. She whimpered in fear and stopped instantly. She tried to lift her head up, straining her neck, but gave up.

She took a look around the dimly lit room. To her right there was a metal table with different scary looking tools thrown half-hazardly on top of it. "W-What are you gonna do t-to me?" Lucy asked in a terrified voice.

"Not much, just gonna have some fun," The figure then walked out of the shadows and turned to be a bit on the short side, but still scary. He walked over to the metal door on the opposite wall and pulled it open, walked through it and slammed it shut. _Natsu, save me..._ was her last thought before she blacked out from exhaustion.

Natsu bursts out of the guild hall's doors and immediately started to sniff the air and track down Lucy's scent. He turned in a full 360 degrees and finally settled for North. "Where the hell is Flame Brains going?!" Gray asked, annoyed how he is always one step behind the Dragon Slayer. "He is searching for his Lucy," Erza said with a soft smile on her face.

"C'mon! She's this way!" Natsu yelled over his shoulder. Erza and Gray picked up their pace to run just behind him. "Her scent is faint, but I can smell it clearly enough to follow it! This way!" He yelled, then took a sharp right, cutting through an alleyway. _That bastard is gonna pay!_ Natsu thought angrily, putting a mean scowl on his face, _no-one takes my Lucy from me..._

 **-A/N-**

 **Hey! So I just finished this chapter at like, nearly 7 in the morning and not to mention, IM SICK! Urgh, I feel like complete sh*t and I still have to go to school! Anyways, I just wanted to mention I'm my own editor and stuff. Thank you guys for the reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying this story as much as I am! Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter, people! Enjoy! P.s, I apologize for the terrible fight scenes, I'm not used to writing them!**

 _-Chapter 8-_

 _Pain_. That's all she has been feeling nonstop for the last 15 minutes. Her voice was hoarse and her throat hurt from exertion of crying out. She was still in her kid form, and was almost useless. She was afraid. She wanted to get out of the hellhole she was stuck in, but as luck would have it, she knew she would be stuck her if she didn't do something, and quick.

The table she was laying on was covered in a crimson liquid that could only belong to her. "Have you given up yet?" The creepy man that was torturing her asked in a sickly calm voice. "I don't even know who you are," she almost whispered, voice almost gone completely. "Once those fairies come, they'll know my true abilities," he snickered, pulling out a syringe. "This will only hurt a bit," he gave fake assurance.

The syringe had an aqua coloured fluid that was waiting inside. He came right up to her and put the end of the needle next to her neck. She was shaking violently now, afraid. All at once, he pushed it into her skin and let free the strange liquid inside. It started taking action almost instantly. "This formula was perfected in many ways, it was designed to let loose its victims most greatest fears. It's absolutely great to watch, especially little girls like you, scream in agony and fear," he explained.

"N-Natsu..." she struggled, her voice being drowned out by her groaning and trying not to scream and let the sick man enjoy her agony. She started seeing shadows move along the walls, hands of those said monsters coming right at her and disappearing a second before they would reach her face. Each time this happened, she would give in more and more to the impending doom that was to come. After the shadows were over, she saw her father. "N-No..." she struggled to try and get away, but the pain that was inflicted on her body from before restricted that movement. She whimpered in fear and pain, wanting to just get out of there. "I think that's enough for today, men," the man said. Hooded figures came from the door and unstrapped the limp girl and dragged her out of there and down the hall.

When the men stopped in front of a cell, they threw her in and slammed the bulky metal door shut. She heard a heavy click, and knew then that it was locked. She sat up and leaned against the wall and took a look around the dirty place. There was a metal bed that was attached to the wall on the left, like the ones in prison, but without the comfort of a pillow, blanket or even a mattress. To her left was a bare brick wall, but in the back corner there was a bucket. She guessed that's where she had to do her business. She grimaced.

She attempted standing up, but found she didn't have the strength to. She was still seeing her fears in the retched hallucination, but tried her best to ignore them. She slumped to the wall and cried. That's all she was physically and mentally able to do right now. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be in Natsu's arms. She wanted to be free of any pain or fears. She wanted to be safe. She ended up falling into a restless sleep.

They were in the middle of the forest now. Winding their way through trees, jumping over roots and boulders. Lucy's scent was fading quickly, but it was still there. "URGH! We have been running forever, and I feel like we haven't gotten closer at all!" Natsu exclaimed, annoyed. They kept running for another five minutes. "This is useless!" He yelled. "Dude, you need to calm down, let's take a quick breather, yeah?" Gray suggested, tired from the running. "If we do that, her scent will fade and we won't know where to go," Natsu retorted in a frustrated manner.

"I agree with Gray, Natsu," Erza butted in, slowing to a jog. They both copied her and took a quick breather. "Alright, lets go!" Natsu attempted after two minutes. "Oi! We only just stopped!" Gray protested. "Natsu, we need to think clearly," Erza reasoned, getting annoyed at him. "Well, no one else is looking for her, and I promised to protect her! I have obviously already broke it, by letting those creeps take her! She is still a little kid!" The Fire Dragon Slayer countered. "Fine, but at least one more minute," Erza gave in, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep him from looking for Lucy.

After exactly one minute, the Pinkette shot up, and started telling them which way to go. He was continuously sniffing the air, searching for Lucy's sweet scent. There was a mountain up ahead, and her smell was finally getting the tiniest bit stronger. Even though it was a small difference from before, he was happy nonetheless. "Her scent! It's getting stronger!" He called behind him in a gleeful manner. They continued to run closer, but were soon stopped by a huge group of surprisingly familiar black cloaks.

" _You took her away from me...that was the worst mistake you could of ever done!_ " He growled out in a ferocious way, leaping out with a roar that resembled a dragon. Erza and Gray quickly followed his lead, Erza equipped into her Heaven's Wheel armour, and Gray made an Ice Lance come out of the ground. Kicks, punches, fire, ice and swords were thrown everywhere in a heated battle.

The three separated and took an equal amount of foes to each of them. Natsu was surrounded by cloaked figures, a normal person would of been scared, but everyone knows he is abnormal in the most badass of ways. Instead of cowering in fear, he jumped up and yelled, "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" And everyone around him exploded into fire and were screaming and yelling, while Natsu was cackling, "Stop, drop, and roll, Bitches!"

"Natsu, stop playing around!" Gray yelled. He quickly turned, right hooking a man, then following through with a left round house kick.

"I am, Freezerburn!" The Fire Mage retorted, doing a double round house kick to some guys face. He then proceeded to uppercut another guy in front of him and elbow someone behind him in the face at the same time. He then swooped down to trip someone, and throw a flaming fist into someone else's gut.

"Enough! Just follow her scent, Natsu! We'll take care of these guys!" Erza cut in, summoning sword after sword to defeat her enemies. "Aye, sir!" Was his determined reply. _I'm coming Lucy, just hold on!_ He thought while sprinting as fast as he could to try and get to her as soon as he could.

 **-A/N-**

 **Ah, finally! The next chapter has arrived! I litterely was typing this all day, but I still achieved my 'thousand word' mark, though! I thought, 'so you guys would enjoy the chapters better, why not try and do a thousand words a chapter? Yes, it might take a bit longer, but it would be more enjoyable, I think'. I still can't beleive I got sick when it was only a week into Autumn! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally, chapter nine! Hope you enjoy this extra-long one! I'm listening to the song, Please Don't Go by Joel Adams while writing this chapter. It's a really good song to listen to while reading this.**

 _-Chapter 9-_

The next time Lucy woke up, she was chained up to a cold, stone wall. She slowly lifted her head so she wouldn't hurt her already sore neck. She could feel the many cuts on her arms and legs now. They were slowly dropping small bits of blood onto the rock ground. She inspected her wrists and saw that they were red and bloody, _it's probably from the chains_ , she thought dryly. Lucy wiggled her hands in a poor attempt to see if she could escape, but to no avail.

She looked around the room and found that she was in the same cell she was before, dark and scary. Where's Natsu? She thought, afraid that he wouldn't come and save her. The jeans and loose shirt she was wearing before were ripped to shreds, in those spots you could see her skin, it was covered in a crimson liquid. The little blonde hung her head and waited. And waited. And waited. She was getting fed up and was about to yell out, when she heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" Her voice didn't sound like her own, it was scratchy and raw from the previous screaming she was doing and for not being used in, what, hours? Days? She didn't know anymore. "Shut it, little girl," a cloaked figure ordered. She gulped in fear, hoping that they weren't going to torture her anymore. He unlocked the cell door and walked towards her. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"We're gonna have a bit 'a fun, with ya," the lower part of his face she could see, his mouth formed into an evil smile. "What are you going to do?" She whimpered. "You won't have to worry about that," he responded, unlocking the chains around her wrists. She was too weak to try and fight back. Her threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Her body hung limply, battered and bruised.

He carried her roughly to another room. This room was small, and had two chains similar to the ones in her cell, but these were no normal chains - they had what looked like wires going from the roof to the shackles, hanging from the middle of the room's ceiling. It had a single light coming from right in between the chains. Another mysterious figure seemed to come out of nowhere and helped the other dude chain her wrists to the chains. Once again, she hung limply, wishing for anything, anyone to come and save her.

"Let's give her a little taste of what we can do," the first man said darkly, "Go to stage one,". The other figure went to what looked like a control panel, it had a lever, multiple buttons and a small screen. He pushed a series of buttons, then used the lever and moved it forward a little. She didn't know what she was expecting, so she was sort of surprised when a jolt of electricity shot through her body from the chains. She screamed in agony. _Why do they keep doing this to me?!_ She thought angrily, _I'm gonna die here..._

Her scent was getting stronger by the minute as Natsu kept sprinting in the direction of Lucy's scent. Even though he was getting significantly tired, he kept going no matter what. He was getting closer to the base of the mountain, when, with his dragon-like hearing, heard strange voices in the distance. Her slowed down to a cautious walk, keeping his eye out for any threats. As he kept moving forward, the voices got louder.

He crept into the bushes, concealed from sight. He listened for a while, hearing, "-ink those fairies are gonna...us? If not...be much better and easier for our job...the boss will be happy, at least," _What are they talking about?_ He thought in confusion. _Are they talking about Lucy?_ By the time he thought this, he was already up and attacking. He lit his fists ablaze, knocking out one of them, and punching the other in the gut. He hauled the man up against a tree, lifting him off his feet but the front of his cloak in a tight fist.

"Who are you talking about?!" Natsu demanded, his flames slowly licking up his elbow. "I-I don't know w-who you're t-talking about!" He stammered, shaking his head hurriedly. "You know damn well _who_ I'm talking about! The little blonde girl your master took away from me!" He snarled, flame getting closer to the other man. "Where is she being held hostage?!". "In the m-mountain!" The man answered, pointing to the mountain with a shaky hand.

"Where in the mountain?" Natsu said in a dangerously low voice, flames stopping from going any further. "In the S-Shock Room!" The cloaked figure replied in a shaky voice. "Where is the entrance and the Shock Room?!" Natsu was starting to get frustrated by him. "I-It's on the other s-side of the m-mountain!" He replied. Natsu knocked him out and dropped him. He immediately started sprinting to the other side of the relatively small mountain. _I'm coming Lucy, I'll be there soon!_

"Ramp it up again," The cloaked man said for the third time. That's all that was heard in the room, aside from her screams of agony and pain, of course. It's been happening for the last half hour. Continuous yells and screams. "Let's give a bit of a rest for now," he said at last, "Wouldn't want her to get tired before the first hour, now would we?", "No, sir," the second figure replied, putting the electrocuting to a stop. Lucy panted, trying to catch her breath back. Her head hung low and her limbs were limp. The men left the room. All that could be heard were her cries and whimpers, wishing for the pain to disappear.

All of a sudden, she heard what sounded like fighting a bit further down the hall. She lifted her head slightly, trying to hear better. There were yells just outside the door and it was blown open by what looked like a fireball. The metal door came to a crashing halt just in front of her, she shielded her eyes from the bright light. Next thing she knew, her shackles were being carefully melted off and she fell into big, strong arms. She opened her eyes and saw a flash of pink, then blacked out. _Natsu..._

Once he reached the other side, he instantly started to look for anything that looked like an entrance of some sort. He leapt through gaps in trees, over rocks and over a small stream. _C'mon, where is it?!_ He thought desperately. He looked up, and saw a small out cropping with what looked like a cave entrance underneath. He immediately started running, hoping to anyone that would listen, that it would be the entrance. To his luck, it was and there was a small group of guards just outside it.

He flew right up to them and yelled, "FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" The spell took out half of them at once, he smirked at their shocked faces. He got right up to one and punched him in the gut, while ducking a punch from someone behind him. He couched down low and tripped them, then he kicked the one that was in front of him in the gut with his right foot, while he punched to his left with his right fist. There were now only two left. He didn't waste anytime and threw a flaming fist at both their faces at once.

After the quick fight, he ran straight though the doors, blasting them open. "WHERE'S LUCY?!" He screamed. Instantly, the occupants in the hallway started yelling out and firing different spells his way, but he dodged them with ease. Right after he blasted the doors, Erza and Gray came in, obviously having finished with the men outside. "Took you guys long enough!" The Dragon Slayer yelled out to them, "Well, if you would of just held up a bit, we could of gone in together, Ash Brains!" Gray replied, exasperated.

"Shut up and focus on the fight! We need to find Lucy!" Titania cut in, fed up with the two constantly fighting. "Aye, sir!" They both replied instantaneously. "Gray and I will handle this, you go find Lucy!" Erza commanded, "No complaints here!" Natsu replied, running off down the hall in search of his favourite person. _We're here, Lucy. You don't need to worry anymore_ , He thought while dashing off.

 **-A/N-**

 **Sorry for this chapter taking so long! I had a minor Writers Block, and so I just started and finished this chapter tonight. It's a lot longer that normal, and I'm thinking I should end this story in the next few chapters, maybe you guys can suggest when I should end it, that would be really helpful! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (I'm already starting the next one) and, until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here is chapter ten, guys! Enjoy!**

-Chapter 10-

Natsu burst through every door he came across, yelling for Lucy and to see if she was there. When there were occupants, he left before they started attacking him, leaving them for Erza and Gray. He was in the fifth hallway, when he heard screaming. He quickly dashed towards the source of the noise, stopping and listening for a split second, then burst through with so much force, the door was blown off. He ignored the people that were yelling at him outside. What he saw next, made his blood run cold.

There she was, hanging from the ceiling strapped to chains with her arms raised above her head. Her clothes were ripped to shreds, and where he saw skin, he saw blood and cuts as well as bruises decorating her petite body. He quickly ran up to her and gently melted off the shackles on her wrists and that's when he saw the red on her fore arms. "Oh, Lucy..." he whispered gently. He caught her in his arms and sunk to the ground, holding her to his chest in a protective hug.

Erza and Gray ran in at that moment, asking if he found her, when they stopped short. "The hell happened to her?!" Gray cried out in anger, "I don't know what happened, but I swear to god, whoever did this is going to pay," Natsu growled out in a low voice. He tightened his arms around her and carefully lifted her up. "We need to get her back to the guild and to Wendy," The Dragon Slayer announced, cradling the blonde in his safe arms.

When they reached the entrance of the facility, they sprinted as fast as they could around the mini mountain and in the direction of Magnolia.

It took them half an hour to arrive home and as soon as they had the guild in their sight, they ran even faster towards it. "We need Wendy!" Was the first thing Natsu yelled when he slammed open the guild's doors. The said girl lifted her head up from a table near the middle of the hall, yelling back, "What happened?" In a worried tone. Team Natsu jogged up to her and Natsu showed Wendy Lucy, and that's all it took before they we almost instantly in the infirmary.

"Gosh, what happened?" She asked while starting to heal her. Lucy was laying unconscious on one of the beds with Natsu right beside her, holding her fragile hand. "Our new enemy, that's what," He replied simply. He had a dark scowl on his face, probably thinking the next plan to attack and get his revenge for hurting his Lucy. _I'm going to kill him_ , he thought darkly. _He'll wish he never even thought about touching her._

A few hours later, Lucy was healed up and asleep. Next to her tiny form, was a much bigger and masculine one. Natsu was laying on his right side facing the girl with a strong and warm arm draped over her. He was so worried that he didn't leave her side the entire time, even though she was unconscious. When he did go out, wether it was to get food or go to the bathroom, he would always get Wendy to watch her, and if anything happened, to not hesitate to yell out. Some would say he was being 'overprotective' or even 'obsessive', but he ignored those comments and focused solely on Lucy.

It was around one am when Lucy woke up with a start. She nearly yelled out, but caught her voice quickly. She opened her eyes and looked at the white ceiling. She took multiple deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart, that's when she noticed the weight on her stomach. She looked over to her right and saw Natsu. Tears of happiness started to pool in her eyes. She let out an impromptu noise, and her eyes widened, afraid she woke him up. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake. All he did was move her closer to his warm chest and wrap both his arms around her. "Lucy..." he mumbled, still in a deep sleep.

He moved his head to the crook of her neck and stayed there. She just laid limply there, finally noticing her surroundings. She didn't know where she was and started to panic slightly, but then thought, _if Natsu is here, then I'm safe. No matter what._ Because she new that, if Natsu was with her, nothing bad would happen to her. She moved so that she was facing his chest, snuggling just that little bit closer, and finally fell into a sleep full of dreams.

When Natsu woke up next, the first thing he saw was blonde hair. He sighed in relief, knowing that his best friend was safe. He moved slightly, and also noticed that she was pressed up against his chest with Happy tightly clutched in her arms. He looked over his shoulder to the window and noticed that it was early morning.

He looked around at his surroundings and saw that they were still in the infirmary. He sighed, relaxing into the bed sheets. Following this action, Lucy then stirred and one of her eyes cracked open, wincing at the light omitting from the window. "Hey, Luce. How are you feeling?" He asked softly, looking down at her. "Where are we?" She answered with her own, slightly panicked, question. "It's okay, we're in the guild's infirmary. You're safe, nothing is gonna hurt you," he comforted, hugging her gently. "I believe you," and she did.

A minute or two later, Mira popped her head in to see if they were awake. "Hey, guys," she greeted as she entered the room. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry?" She asked in a gentle way, as to not startle the blonde that was currently in the Fire Mage's arms, _awww, they are SO CUTE!_ Mira thought as here 'inner-shipper' started to come out. "Yeah, I'm hungry! What about you, Luce?" He offered, trying to make her feel welcome. "I-I guess," she answered, timidly. "Its chow time! I'm all fired up!" And with that he picked her up and dashed to the main hall.

 **-A/N-**

 **Don't worry! THIS IS NOT THE END! I assure you, it isn't ending here! I still have to do other things, like, when Lucy is gonna change back and stuff! I hoped you like it and I oppologize if the characters are a bit OOC, I can't really help that. Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wooo, finally, chapter 11! I hope ya enjoy it!**

 _-Chapter 11-_

All afternoon, Natsu introduced Lucy to the guild members, participated in a few brawls that were cut short by Erza, ate food and had a good time. The sun was just setting over the horizon when Natsu and Lucy decided to go home.

"Bye everyone!" Lucy called, being picked up into the arms of a certain Dragon Slayer. "See you tomorrow! Levy, don't forget to see if we can get Luce back to her real form!" He yelled out to the bookworm. "You got it!" The Bluenette replied, already reading a thick book about spells.

After they closed the guild's doors, Natsu hoisted Lucy up, unto his broad shoulders and started to resume his walking pace. "Natsu, can we get ice cream?" The giggly girl asked. "Sure," he agreed whole-heartedly. They walked for about three more minutes, when they found an ice cream stand. The Fire Breather walked up and ordered; a double chic waffle cone and a single strawberry cone. He thanked the vendor and payed him the money. Natsu handed the strawberry ice cream to the blonde, who immediately started to lick it.

He chuckled slightly at her behaviour, then started eating his own. They walked the rest of the way to her apartment in comfortable silence. "All done!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "Great, now we can go give you a bath and get you dressed for bed, huh?" The pinkette said, feeling tired from a day of utter chaos. "Okay," she replied, leaning into his soft head of hair, "I like the colour of your hair, Natsu," she commented, playing with little bits of pink hair. "Thanks...I think," he replied, not entirely sure on how to react.

Since he was tired, he didn't bother going through the door and went straight up to her bedroom's window. He unlocked it with his spare key and slid through onto her soft bed. He slipped her off his shoulders and placed her gently on the bed, "You want your bath?" He asked, already have takin off his sandals. "Okay, but I'm tired," she replied in a sleepy way. "Okay, Luce," Natsu said quietly, the complete opposite to what he had been the last few hours. Natsu picked the little girl up and trudged to the bathroom, readying the bathtub for her.

After the bath, he slipped her into a pair of red pyjamas with little grey animated dragons printed all over. "Here we go," He announced tenderly, hugging her to his shoulder as he moved to the comfy bed. She giggled quietly, humoured by his tenderness and care. "I'm not a China doll," she retorted, a little upset he kept treating her so carefully, as if one touch could shatter her into a million pieces. "I know, but you're still healing," he replied, pulling the covers back. "I'm still not that fragile..." she trailed off, knowing it would get her nowhere. "I don't care, it's sleep time," he said back stubbornly. "Okay, okay. Goodnight," she replied, snuggling into his warm chest. "Goodnight, Luce," Natsu whispered back, falling into a calm sleep with the girl he swore to protect, laying in his protective embrace.

He woke up abruptly, caked in a layer of sweat and breathing heavily. He just stayed there, panting. "What the hell?" He said quietly to himself, trying to figure out why he woke up. He looked down and saw that Lucy was still safely in his arms, he sighed in relief. He then heard a faint noise, but he wasn't sure if it was dangerous or not. He listened carefully and heard it again. Faint footsteps. _What?_ , he thought in confusion, but as soon as he thought that, they stopped. He tilted his head to the left slightly, trying to hear better. Even with his dragon-like hearing, it was a bit difficult to listen for the noise to become loud enough.

The next time he heard it, it was louder and closer. He pulled Lucy closer to him on instinct and curled his body around her. He lifted the covers so that they were covering her entirely, but she still had room to breathe normally. The footsteps were getting closer. He sniffed the air and found an unfamiliar scent mixed into the air that normally smelled like the Celestial Mage.

The footsteps were heavy, almost like huge metal weights were attached to them. Then suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and he instantly made himself look like he was asleep. It was still dark in the room. The footsteps came closer to the bed and his breathing quickened, hold tightening even more on the girl in his arms. He was about to sit up and punch whoever it was, but stopped when that 'unfamiliar' scent, changed into a _very_ familiar one. It smelled like blood and metal. Could it possibly be the man that took Lucy away from him? _Oh,_ _ **hell no**_ _, was he going to let that happen again_ , just as when he finished this thought, he heard a gruff voice emerged from the dark.

Instantly, he sat up and charged at him. He threw a flaming fist at the man's face, but was held back by a strong force and rammed into the opposite wall. He grunted at the impact, and looked over to where Lucy lay. He started to shout, hoping to the high heavens that for the mysterious figures would just _leave them alone_. But obviously, luck wasn't on his side lately, and they lifted the sleeping girl up from the bed. "Leave her alone! Don't you dare touch her!" He yelled, getting angrier and angrier by the second.

His body started to flame up, extremely hot flames bursting from his body. Dragon Force. " _I said, DON'T TOUCH HER!_ " He screamed in rage, seemingly teleporting to where the intruders were. He only saw red after that

 **-A/N-**

 **Okay, first things first, I AM STILL ALIVE! Even tho most a ya, were probs not caring, but... anyway, here is chapter 11! I hope no one is loosing interest in this story and I am sorry for this update being so late to what I normally do! This chapter is a little on the short side (it's just that, school has been a bit of an ass lately) but I still hope you enjoyed it! Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I AM SOOO MEAN! IM SORRY! Enjoy!**

 _-Chapter 12-_

Earlier:

"Are you sure we should do this, sir?" One of his minions asked. "Of course! It is for the research on our new spell! We can't just let it go to waste," the leader announced, putting his concealing, black cloak on. "I don't think we need to go to the extremes of the torture devices, though," the younger man replied. "Nonsense! We need to use those, so we can get the most information the quickest way!" He shouted, getting fed up with the other man's yapping. "Who cares, anyway? Once we are done with her, we simply put the information we have gathered to good use, and simply change the spell for the next time we use it. So then, it will be more destructive and we can have an army of invincible children to help take over the world!" (A/N, yes I know, extremely cliche right there, but I couldn't think of anything else) The leader boomed, proud of his plan.

"Okay, sir," the minion just agreed, going back to getting ready for the kidnapping.

Present time:

Flames and punches were thrown everywhere, _I have to get her back_ , The enraged Natsu thought, throwing a kick to someone's face and a punch to someone's gut, effectively knocking them out. _No one takes my Lucy from me_.

While the fight was going on, the said girl was laying unconscious on her bedroom floor. Natsu tried making his way to her, but constantly got blocked off, and this made him even angrier-if that was possible- and was ramming through the men to try and pick her up, then whisk her off to the safety of the guild. But of course, you can't have a heroic save in just one second, now could you? But he tried anyway, and actually achieved the part where he 'picked her up', but still needed to do the 'whisk her off to the safety of the guild' part.

"Get outta my way!" He yelled, holding the small child in his arms. He jumped over them, and went straight to the window, where he opened it in record time and jumped through it. He landed a little off-balanced, but regained it and started running off towards the guild. The pink haired Dragon Slayer moved Lucy so that she was on his side. He faintly heard yelling behind him, so he quickened his already super fast pace.

As soon as he reached the doors, he burst through them, only to see that every one that was in there- Mira, Macao, Wakaba, Jet and Droy- to be either tied up, or unconscious. "What?" He could hardly comprehend what was going on because he was still in Dragon Force mode.

"Ah, so we meet again, Dragon Slayer. I see you have already have arrived with the subject of this situation," the cloaked figure said in a casual way. "What do you want with Lucy?!" Natsu growled back, tightening his hold on her. "You'll never get her!"

"Oh, really? Men," he clicked his fingers, and most of the men in the room-about twenty- we instantly charging at him. He let out a feral growl and started to fight back, albeit struggling a bit, cause he still had to hold Lucy. "You'll never get her!" He repeated, lashing out ferociously. "If I want it, I'm gonna get it," the leader stated simply.

"EEERRRZZAAAAA!" Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that someway the re-quip mage would hear him. Not a minute later, the desired mage broke down the front doors and immediately re-quipped to her Heavens Wheel armor, and started fending off the attackers.

"What did you do, Natsu?!" She yelled over to him. "They want Lucy!" Was his simple reply. _Lucy? Why would they want her?_ Erza thought to herself in confusion. She just brushed it off and decided to ask about it after the fight.

Erza went up to fight next to Natsu, making sure that no one got to Lucy. "You need to get her out of here!" She ordered, smashing in someone's face with the hilt of a sword. "What do you think I was trying to do?!" He rhetorically shouted back, shielding Lucy with his body. "Argh! To hell with it!" He roared, "FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" Everyone around him either were blown away by the attack or were set on fire and were screaming and shouting for 'someone to put the Fire out'.

"Now's your chance!" Erza yelled, blocking and swinging with her swords at an alarming rate. Natsu nodded in return, running off towards the exit.

"Do you think that's really going to work?" Natsu froze at that single statement, the world seemed to freeze in time. He turned around slowly, fear in casing his whole body. There stood the man that started this all. As soon as Natsu's sharp eyes caught sight of him, he let out a growl and asked in return, "What the hell do you want?!". "All you stubborn mages have to do is, hand me the girl, and we'll be out of here," The dark shadow-like figure replied, taking cautious steps towards the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Like hell, I will!" Was Natsu's angered shout, abruptly turning towards the guild's main doors again, running through them. Immediately after he was out of the doors, a sudden force pushed him roughly back into the guild hall. "Argh, damn it!" He yelled in frustration.

He tried to get up, but to no avail. It was as if someone was holding him down, but no one was touching him. The man came and stood in front of him and the unconscious girl that was beside him. "All you needed to do was give her to me," He said in a sickeningly sweet voice, reaching his arms out to grab Lucy. There was a sudden growl and Natsu pounced on him, seemingly having of broken free from his restraints.

" _You touch her, you die_ ," he spat out, pinning the man to the ground in a death grip. "N-Now, now. No need to g-go to t-those extremes," he stuttered, scared out oh his mind. "You ever try to hurt her or anyone from the Fairy Tail guild again, it won't end this pretty," The Dragon Slayer stated, punching him in the side of the head, effectively knocking him out.

While that was happening, he momentarily forgot the battle that Erza was currently in. When he looked up, he noticed that she had defeated all the dark mages, and had tied them up. "I'll call the police, you make sure she is okay," The are-quip mage announced, trying to wake up the others. He nodded in response, briskly walking towards the fallen girl. "Luce, wake up," he mumbled, gently shaking her. No response. "Luce, c'mon. You gotta wake up for me," he tried again, but got the same results. He started to worry, _what if they did something to her while I wasn't looking? But she was with me in my arms the whole time_ , he thought, confused as to what could have happened.

This time, he put his ear to her little chest, listening for a heartbeat.

Nothing.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening!" He cried in fear. He was scared. What if they did something to her? What if she won't wake up? _What if, he failed to protect her like he promised?_ At that last thought, he desperately called out to Erza to get Wendy, Mira, anyone that could help. Tears started to form in his eyes as he tried looking for a pulse.

No pulse.

By the time he had fully comprehended this, he was being restrained by Gajeel that seemingly came out of no where.

He looked around for the blonde and saw her a little ways away, with Wendy and Porlyusica crowded around her. "What's happening?!" He shouted desperately. "Calm down, Salamander!" Gajeel said from behind him, tightening his hold on the frantic Dragon Slayer. "What's happened to Lucy?!" He raged, trying to get out of the Iron Dragon Slayer's hold, but to no avail. He started to squirm and shout more, desperate to get to the Celestial Mage.

He stopped when Wendy stood up, tears streaking down her face. She slowly walked up to them, her head lowered. "What's wrong, Wendy?! What's wrong with Lucy?!" He asked, tears pooling on the edges of his eyes. "I'm sorry, Natsu..." that's all he needed to hear.

" _LUUUUUCYYYY!_ " He screamed, those tears now spilling over the edge and cascading down his cheeks, violent sobs wracking through his now slouched body.

 **-A/N-**

 **Im sorry! *dodges flying objects* I know, I know! It's still not the end, though! Calm down, I am also sorry for the long wait! I've just had an eventful weekend so far. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and again, IM SORRY! Don't worry, it won't end here. Also, this chapter is a bit on the long side. Anyways, until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Your wish, is my command! Enjoy!**

 _-Chapter 13-_

Natsu woke up with a start. He was sweating all over and the blankets were twisted all around his body. He sat up, looking for a particular blonde, while trying to stop panting and even out his breathing. He was alone on the bed. He pushed a hand through his messy pink locks, and let out a sigh. He heard a noise that emitted from the kitchen and stood up and casually opened the bedroom door and walked through. The lights were bright against the darkness he just came from. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a head of blonde hair from over the counter.

"Luce?" He asked cautiously, leaning over the bench. He obviously startled her because the next thing his delicate ears heard, was an ear-piercing scream come from her tiny mouth. "Urgh!" He flinched and covered his ears, "N-Natsu?" She stammered, turning around and looking up at the Pink Haired man in front of her. "Do ya have to be so loud, Luce?" He mumbled, catching a glimpse of the time on the microwave. "What are you doing at three in the morning?"

"I had a bad dream, so I wanted some milk," She replied, timidly. "Why didn't ya ask me to get you some?" He asked in a bewildered way. "You were sleeping. I didn't want the dragon to be woken up," she answered cutely. He smiled and shook his head, "Ah, don't worry about it. Did you end up getting any?", "Yeah, I was just going to go back to bed now," She reported, skipping around the bench to stop right in front of his towering figure.

He suddenly remembered the nightmare he woke up from previously. He sat cross legged in front of her on the kitchen floor and pulled her into his lap, then gave her a huge bear hug, nuzzling his head into the crook of her small neck. "No matter what, Lucy, I'm gonna protect you," He whispered, more to reassure himself, than the girl in his arms.

"Okay," She answered, quickly being lulled asleep by his warmth. He held her there for ages. He didn't know how long, he just wanted to hold her in his arms. Eventually though, he picked her up and moved into the bedroom. He placed her on the bed and tucked her in, then walked into the bathroom to splash cold water onto his face. He turned the faucet on and cupped his hands under the flowing water. When his hands were filled up, he splashed the cold liquid onto his face, not caring that it ran down to his bare chest. He did this repeatedly, thinking the same thing over and over again, _it was just a dream, it was just a dream_. When he felt satisfied, he grabbed the hand towel and dried his soaking face. He put the towel back and turned the light off, then walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Natsu trudged over to the bed and pulled back the covers, carefully manoeuvring himself so as to not wake the girl already there. When he was settled, he pulled the said four-year old onto his chest, putting his arms loosely around her. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

When he woke up the next morning, he was dead tired. He groaned in annoyance, tired of stupid nightmares. He flopped one of his arms over his eyes and thought about last night's dream, _man, it felt so real,_ he thought in astonishment. He was very glad it wasn't, because he wouldn't know what he would do if it was real. He tried not to think about it too much.

He peered down at his bare chest to see that the little girl was still there, sleeping soundly. He checked the time on the alarm clock on her desk, it was nine o'clock in the morning. He sighed, _it's too early for this._ He tried to go back to sleep, but knew he wouldn't be able to, especially after what happened last night.

The girl on top of him shifted a bit, cracking open a big, brown eye. "Morning, Natsu," She greeted, rubbing her eyes with small fists. "Mornin', Luce," he greeted back. She could feel his chest rumble with the sound of his deep voice, making her giggle a bit. "What's so funny?" He asked, looking at her quizzically. "I can feel you chest rumble with your voice!" She exclaimed in glee, "It feels funny!"

"Oh." Was all he could say, because really, what could you say to someone who said that? "Well, are you hungry?" He replied, sitting up and resting his back against the head board. She sat in his lap thinking of an answer. "Yeah, a bit," she nodded. "Lets go to the guild, yeah?" He said, moving her to the bed and sitting at the edge of it. He stretched his back and raised his arms above his head, letting out a huge yawn. He blinked a few times to get his sight to adjust completely, before he got up and went to the bathroom.

While he was in the bathroom, something was going on with Lucy. Her head twitched to the right, and here eyes changed to a red for a split second, thoughts about revenge plans and anything of the like invading her mind. _What is this?_ She thought, confused as to what was going on with her. Before anything weirder could happen to the little blonde, it suddenly stopped when Natsu emerged from the bathroom, and her eyes went back to their normal brown colour.

The Dragon Slayer obviously noticed the weird look on her face and decided to ask about it, "Whats with the weird look, Luce?" He asked, curious. "Oh nothing," She absolutely hated lying, but she didn't want Natsu worrying about something so small. "I'm fine. Can we get something to eat now?" She asked, hopping up and down in the bed. "Don't do that, you might re-open your injuries. You are still healing, remember?" He scolded, grabbing her from under the arms and lifting her up to his hip.

"I know, but I'm hungry!" She retorted, giving him a little pout, _adorable_ , he thought, _gah! What has gotten into me?_ He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts, instead saying, "We gotta get you some new clothes, bud," he said, indicating to her red pyjamas. "I wanna eat first!" She insisted, bouncing up and down, "Argh, fine," He relented, putting his sandals on, since he already had his one-sleeved waistcoat on. "Yay!" She cheered, pumping her fists in the air above her, nearly punching him in the chin, if it weren't for his reflexes. "Jeez, watch where your punching, little miss," He playfully chastised, tickling her stomach, making her laugh and yell for him to stop. When he did, she was out of breath.

It was a lovely day outside, the sky was clear and the birds were chirping happily. But in the distance, there were dark grey clouds starting to roll in, "We're gonna have to stay inside for this afternoon," Natsu reported to the little girl playing with his scaly scarf that was hanging loosely around his neck and shoulders. "Why?" She replied, questioningly. "It looks like it is gonna rain today," He explained. "Oh, okay," Was all she said in return, Natsu found it a bit weird, but shrugged it off thinking, _Luce is always weird._

When they reached the guild hall, they were bombarded with millions and millions of questions at once. "Shut it, brats!" Yelled Makarov, seeming fed up with all the yelling, so early in the morning. Natsu pushed through the crowd and straight towards the bar, where Mirajane was serving to other guild mates. He sat down in a stool and brought Lucy into his lap, hugging her loosely around the middle. "Hey, Mira!" They greeted the barmaid, smiling brightly at her. "Hey, guys! What would you like today?" The white haired beauty replied, leaning against the wooded counter. "Can I have some cereal, please?" Lucy asked politely, while Natsu just ordered his Fire Chicken. "Coming right up!" She nodded, walking into the kitchen.

Natsu picked Lucy up and walked over to their usual table, where everyone -Gajeel, Levy, Erza, Gray and the two Exceeds- were sitting together chatting. "Hey guys!" Natsu shouted out, plopping down next to Levy. "Hey, Natsu," They replied, nonchalantly. "Hey Lucy!" Levy greeted happily, upon seeing the Celestial Mage. "Hello," she replied, a bit shy still. "How are you doing?" The blue haired girl replied. "I'm okay, it's still hurts a bit. How are you?" She replied, fiddling with Natsu's scarf. "I'm good! Oh, that reminds me! I found a way to get her back to normal!" She suddenly announced, scaring the blonde a bit.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?!" Everyone at the table yelled in unison, except for Lucy. "I just found out an hour ago and was waiting for those two to come, then I accidentally forgot! Sorry!" The Solid-Script Mage said, looking apologetic. "Tell is already!" They once again said. "Well... it's not completely back to normal, but it will at least age her up more! The thing is, the way to get her to age up is, she has to keep in contact with the person she remembers for twenty four hours, straight!" She explained. "What?! How is she gonna do that?" Gray asked, completely confused.

"What about her entire situation, though? How do we get her completely back to normal?" Erza questioned, getting straight to the point. "I haven't found an alternative way, other than to wait it out," Levy answered, glumly.

"Well then, who is the person she remembers?" Gray asked, looking around. Then, as if everyone was thinking the same thing, looked right at Natsu, who was playing with Lucy's hands. He looked up, noticing the eerie silence, "What?" He asked, oblivious to the previous conversation. "Natsu," they all said in unison, eyes widening in realisation.

 **-A/N-**

 **GOTCHA! Ha, you thought I would kill Lucy? You sick, sick people. Well, I know I did a HUGE cliffhanger last chapter, and I got some funny reviews from it. So here ya go, I hope you enjoyed it and won't kill me for last chapter's cliffy. I started typing this basically right after I finished chapter 12. It's more than 1,500 words, so I'm proud. Until next time, don't for get to be awesome!**


	14. Chapter 14

***pants* here...ya...go...Enjoy! *face plants from exhaustion***

-Chapter 14-

The statement was followed by a deafening silence. "What?" The Dragon Slayer finally questioned, confused as to why they had mentioned his name. "You moron! You are the one that has to stay in physical contact with Lucy for twenty four hours if we want her to age up!" Gray replied, scowling at the stupid Fire Eater. "Should we make her age up? I mean, don't get me wrong, but wouldn't it just be easier if we let her grow up on her own?" Levy inquired, looking at the concentrated faces of her fellow guild mates.

"I agree with Levy, honestly," Titania spoke up, nodding her head while looking at the Solid Script Mage. "Why the hell not? Well, I guess it would be kinda useless for her to be older and still not remember us," Gray commented, agreeing with Erza and Levy. Gajeel just grunted in some sort of agreement. Natsu still looked confused, then as if he was reading their thoughts, his face finally lit up in realisation. " _Oh_. We could just wait it out, I think it would be a bit safer, really," He commented, propping his chin upon Lucy's small head. She was too distracted by petting Happy to pay attention to their current conversation.

"Well, we'll just have to wait, what, another month or so?" Natsu questioned, raising a pink eyebrow in question. "Yeah, another month of waiting," Levy confirmed distractedly, already having continued her reading. Natsu sighed in boredom, "Can't we just get another job, already?" He whined, flopping backwards into his chair. "No! Lucy is still healing!" Erza instantly shot down the idea. "Then what are we supposed to do?!" He retorted with an exasperated tone. "Can we go to the beach?" Lucy finally piped up, looking hopefully at the others occupying the table. "The beach? Why, of course! That's a great idea, Lu-chan!" Levy exclaimed with an excited look lighting up her face. "Yes, we shall go to the beach!" Erza declared, standing up from her seat and pointing dramatically at the ceiling.

"Sounds fun," Was all Natsu said, cuddling Lucy in his lap. He laid his head into the crook of her small neck, enjoying her warmth and scent. He didn't hear what everyone was saying after that, only focusing on Lucy. "When are we going?" Lucy asked, looking up slightly. "Tomorrow!" Erza announced with some sort of pride. "Yay! Did you hear that Natsu? We're going to the beach tomorrow!" The Celestial Mage happily reported back to the Fire Mage. "Mhm," Was his distracted reply, "You know what? I'm tired, let's go home, Luce," He stated, picking her up and putting her on his hip. "Okay, bye everyone!" She smiled brightly at them, waving happily. "Bye," They all replied, suspiciously looking at the Fire Dragon Slayer, but not questioning it.

When the duo were walking home, Natsu kept a protective arm around Lucy at all times and was extremely observant, also cautious with his steps. Lucy was holding securely to his scaly white scarf and had laid her head his chest, listening to his soothing heart beat. "It's gonna be heaps fun tomorrow, right?" She quietly asked, relaxing in his comforting warmth. "Yeah, it's gonna be really fun, Luce," He replied with a small, reassuring smile on his face. "Good," The blonde responded.

For the rest of the walk to Lucy's apartment, they were in a comfortable silence. When they reached her house, he once again jumped through her window and locked it shut behind him, placing Lucy carefully onto the fluffy bed. He took his sandals off and sat at the edge of her bed, thinking. _What if that bastard comes back for her? What if my dream was some sort of vision, like Carla's? What if I break my promise? What if-,_ he was suddenly cut off from his train of thought (haha, get it? No? Okay...) by Lucy getting up and crawling over to him.

"What is it, Luce?" He asked in concern. "Stop thinking so much, it's annoying," she said with a serious face, staring him right in the eye. "I can't help it. I'm just worried," He replied with equal seriousness, staring back at her. He suddenly scooped her up and snuggled into her, then started tickling the little girl. "Hahaha, s-stop!" She tried getting out of his arms, but to no avail. "You, little miss, need to not be so serious when you're only little!" He stated, tickling her stomach and sides. "Hahahaha, I-I will w-when _you_ start b-being less s-serious!" She exclaimed, finally getting out of his hold. "I'm allowed to, Luce. You on the other hand, are not," He stated simply, grabbing her and falling back onto the pink covered bed.

"Okay," she relented, laying limply on top of him while listening to his steady heart beat. They stayed like that for a few minutes in comfortable silence. "Well, time for bed, huh?" The Fire Mage broke the silence, "Wanna get plenty of sleep for tomorrow!" He gently lifted her up while sitting up himself and placed her back on the bed. "Mhm!" She agreed, nodding excitedly. He walked over to the chest of drawers and opened the second one down from the top. He looked between two pairs of pyjamas, one was blue with little white stars all over, the other one yellow with peace signs adorning the bottom half. "Which ones, Luce? Blue or yellow?" He asked over his shoulder.

When his back was turned, she suddenly froze in her place, the some-what familiar voices ringing in her head, telling her things about revenge plans and what not while her eyes returned to the same crimson colour they once before had turned. But before anything really could happen, she shook her head and replied, "Blue!" In an energetic tone. "Sure thing," He grabbed the desired pair of nightwear and walked back over to her to start getting her dressed.

Once having completed the task, he pulled the covers back from the bed and allowed for her to jump in first, then jumping in himself. "Ahhh, this bed is sooo comfffyyy," He moaned in pleasure, sighing in the process of getting comfortable. He decided on laying on his back. "I know! You don't need to tell me," The little girl beside him huffed, coming up closer and climbing into his stomach-but not without making him wince in pain when she applied a bit too much pressure to his abdomen- and making herself comfortable, laying her head on his tan, muscular chest. "Goodnight, Natsu," She mumbled, already venturing off to the land of sleep and dreams. "Night, Luce. Sweet dreams," He mumbled back, wrapping his arms loosely around the form of the now sleeping girl and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

 **-A/N-**

 **i know, I'm a disgrace to humanity for such a LONG update wait! I am so sorry, I have been caught up with school-or what me and my friends like to call prison-, life and other general things. I hope you enjoyed this update and I'm sorry if there is any grammatical or spelling errors! I tried my best. Anyway, until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here you go, lovely people! Enjoy**

-Chapter 15-

Lucy awoke, confused as to where she was. It was still dark outside. _Where- oh, I'm at my apartment,_ she thought, slowly looking around the room. After she looked at her surroundings, the first thing she saw was a tan chest, rising and falling underneath her. She trailed her eyes up from the middle of it, up the slender neck, and finally to the person's face. _Natsu..._ she thought, staring at his peaceful face. Light snores were emitting from him and he shifted slightly, bringing her a bit closer while tightening his grip around her. "Mm, Luce..." he mumbled with a small grin on his face.

She decided that she needed to get up, so she very carefully-remembering that he was a Dragon Slayer- moved his arms off her just enough so that she could sit up. She slowly lifted herself up and tried not to move abruptly or put a lot of pressure to one spot at once. She heard a small groan come from the slumbering Mage and quickly looked up, noticing the slight grimace on his face. She quickly got off him, avoiding the arm that was now raising and surely, he turned over onto his side and remained snoring away.

Lucy silently climbed down from the bed after making sure that he was asleep and padded lightly to the couch in the lounge room. She hopped up to it and sat there, thinking about those strange times that her brain was over ridden with those dark and strange thoughts. _What does it mean? Why are those thoughts invading my head when Natsu is turned around?_ She thought, slightly scared of whatever it was. Next thing she knew, she was on the her hands and knees on the lounge room floor, her head and body twitching rapidly. "Aargh..." she cried quietly, her eyes changing from the chocolate colour, to blood red.

 _'Kill him...'_

 _'You are just one of many...'_

 _'Terminate everyone in that retched place you call a guild!'_

 _'Let the Madness take over!'_

All these strange and frightening thoughts kept coming and coming. "Natsu...!" She whimpered, hoping that he would of heard her. When he didn't appear and the thoughts were getting louder, she called out again. "Natsu-!" She tried, but was cut off from a searing pain in her right temple, she cried out in pain, putting her head to the floor and covering her ears in an attempt to stop the voices. " _NATSU!_ " She screamed, tears rushing down her face and pooling on the ground underneath her face.

Natsu came running out of the bedroom, looking disheveled as ever, mind you, it was still early in the morning- the sun haven't even risen yet. He spotted her and ran over, putting his hands on her small shoulders and bringing her to a sitting position. "Hey, what's wron-" he cut himself off by taking a look at her crimson coloured eyes. "Lucy..?" He asked cautiously, looking into her eyes. "N-Nat-su..." she whispered back. "M-make it s-stop..." she trailed off before falling unconscious in his arms, tears still leaking from her eyes. "Luce?" He asked again, "Lucy, you okay?" He was starting to get frightened. _What was she talking about? The voices? I need to get her to Wendy or Porlyusica,_ he thought in a rush. He quickly picked her up and rushed into her bedroom. He placed her on the bed gently and grabbed his waistcoat, quickly pulling it on.

When he was dressed fully, he picked up the blonde again and rushed through her bedroom window and towards the guild hall. As soon as he touched the ground, he leapt off into a full sprint. He didn't know what was going on, but all he gathered from this incident, was that he needed to get her help, and fast. _What is going on?_ , he thought in a confused manner. The girl in his arms kept whimpering and sniffling, whispering about 'stopping it' but he didn't know what 'it' was. "Shh, it's gonna be okay, Luce. We're gonna get you fixed up and you'll be all better," he soothed, trying to calm her down so she would stop crying. Damn, how he hated when she cried.

When he reached the guild doors, he quickly opened them and rushed inside. "We need Wendy!" He shouted at the few remaining guild mates still there. A strong sense of déjà vu about this whole ordeal. At _that_ thought, he swore to himself that he would stay by Lucy's side and protect her better than what he did in his dream-no, it was a nightmare. The members of the guild immediately started rushing about to try and get the little healer. When she emerged from the infirmary, Natsu ran over to her and started speaking, but all that came out were a jumble of words. "I can't understand, Natsu," Wendy stated, taking on a look of concern for him. "Something's goin' on with Lucy," he finally managed to say, extending Lucy in front of him to prove his point. Lucy was in tears and was curled up into a ball, a whimpering mess.

"Bring her to the infirmary," Wendy ordered, turning herself around and running into the said room, Natsu hot on her tail. "Put her on the bed," she said, going over to a cabinet and grabbing a few things that Natsu had no idea what they were. He did as he was told and laid her down carefully on the bed next to the window. He then grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up to the side of her bed and sat down heavily into it. He grabbed the little blonde's hand and lightly squeezed it to reassure her that he was there.

Wendy then came over and started doing multiple things like checking her temperature, ect. "What's wrong with her?" Natsu asked, looking hopefully at the Sky Dragon Slayer. "I'll need to conduct a spell on her so that I can see if there is anything going on in her mental state," she replied, raising her hands above the girl. Natsu just nodded, watching very carefully.

About two or three painfully slow minutes later, Wendy had finally completed the spell. "Anything wrong?" Natsu asked again, his worry levels spiking when he saw the grave look on the younger girl's face. "Natsu... it seems that... after she got kidnapped, the people injected some sort of serum into her bloodstream and it's affecting her mental state. It is what they call, 'Madness' and it does horrible things to the victim's brain functionality," Wendy explained, looking sadly at Lucy. The Celestial Mage stirred and turned over, facing Natsu. He looked longingly at her younger self's face, _I wish she was back to normal,_ he thought glumly.

"Is there anything you can do to get rid of it?" He asked hurriedly, feeling a slight panic attack coming. "It's okay, Natsu. There is something I can do, but it requires great concentration and I have to do it at a specific time, and that time isn't now. It's in a few hours," Wendy replied. "Well, what are we gonna do with her until then?" The Fire Dragon Slayer questioned, glancing at the sleeping four year old, then back at the healer.

"She will be in a comatose-like state until I can conjure enough magical energy to cast the spell." Was Wendy's reply.

 **-A/N-**

 **Boy, has it been as long as I thought? Probably. Anyways, here is chapter 15 and for yesterday, PINCH AND A PUNCH FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH! And it's 41 more days till my birthday! Yay, can't wait! Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here you go folks! I hope you enjoy it!**

 _-Chapter 16-_

It has been four days since she was first put under the healing spell. Natsu was waiting eagerly and worriedly at the guild hall's bar, having been forced out of the infirmary by Erza. He never left Lucy's side, except for right now of course. He was drinking something when Levy suddenly came rushing out from the room Lucy was located in.

"She's awake!" She yelled with a joyful tone, excitedly clapping her hands and jumping up and down. As soon as she said those two words -that he had been waiting to hear for the longest time- he shot up out of his seat. In the blink of an eye, he was already rushing through the doors to the hospital-like room. "How's Lucy?!" Was the first thing he yelled, in a desperate manner. Erza was the first one to react and looked over to the eager Fire Dragon Slayer. "She's fine, Natsu. She just needs sometime to wake up first," The Warrior Princess replied calmly. Natsu let out a sigh of relief. He walked with long strides towards her bed, unable to wait any longer than necessary.

On the bed was a little girl. Her hair was still a vibrant yellow, and she had bandages taped around her small head. She looked up at the sudden noises and instantly found the pink haired man standing next to the bed. "Natsu?" She questioned, unsure if it was him or not. "Luce, you're okay..." he trailed off, leaning over to sit down and wrapping his arms around her tightly. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and just sat there. After a second's hesitation, she wrapped her own arms around his neck, basking in his warmth. They stayed like that for who knows how long, sitting on the bed in an embrace.

"Hey gu-!" Happy flew in, immediately pausing at the scene in front of him. _They liiiiike each other_ , he thought in a mischievous manner. He flew back out and went straight to the bar, asking for a tasty fish.

Shortly after Happy's entrance, the other two separated and Natsu looked at her with an intense gaze. "I'm glad you're all better, Luce," he whispered gently. "Me too," she said back, giggling. Natsu smiled in response and lifted her up to his hip and carried her out of the room. They went to the bar and sat down like they did the first time she was put under the age spell, with her facing him on the counter and him with his arms wrapped loosely around her, mostly resting on the table top.

"Do you want anything to eat?" He asked, looking at her. "Yeah, but I don't know what though," she replied in a quiet voice, looking down slightly. "That's fine! You can just take anything you want from my share!" He reassured, looking over to his right to find Mira. "Mira, can I have some food?" He asked a bit rudely, but the bar maid thought nothing of the comment. "Sure, Natsu! You want the usual?" She asked in response to his question and walked over to the pair thinking, _they are so cute!_ "Yeah," the Fire Mage said back distractedly, playing with a lock of blonde hair. Mira walked to the kitchen and started making the desired meal.

"How are you feelin', Luce?" Natsu brought his attention back to the little blonde in front of him. "I feel a bit weird, but I'm okay," she answered honestly. "That's good," he replied with a small grin on his face. He picked her up carefully and placed her on the stool beside him so that she could eat her meal without having to sit on his lap. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes while they were waiting for the food.

When Mira emerged from the kitchen, carrying multiple plates filled with as much food as possible, placing them in front of the Fire Mage. She went back in and then came back not long after, this time carrying another plate, but this one was empty and put it in front of the little girl, so she could take whatever she wanted from Natsu's share.

Five and a half plates later-Natsu eating the five and Lucy having the half-, the duo sitting at the bar had full bellies. "That was great food!" He exclaimed, doing a huge burp after. "Yeah," Lucy agreed sleepily. "Let's get you home, yeah?" The Fire Dragon Slayer suggested, noticing the little girl slouch slightly. "Yeah," she replied in the same sleepy manner. Natsu then stood up and picked her up gently, trying not to jostle her and put her on his hip. Her head instantly lolled onto his shoulder and she promptly fell asleep. He thanked the bar maid and started walking towards the guild hall's huge wooded doors.

"Natsu!" He turned around at the sound of his name and saw Erza standing a few meters away from him. "Yeah?" He walked over so that he didn't have to yell. "Make sure you take care of Lucy," was all she said. "Okay," Natsu nodded, turning to leave out the huge doors. _I just hope that nothing goes wrong_ , Titania thought in worry, then walked back to the table and began eating her cheesecake.

It was a quiet walk from the guild to Lucy's apartment. Lucy was asleep with her head resting on his broad shoulder and Natsu supporting her weight with his right arm. The Fire Mage did get a few curious glances from the towns folk, but he paid no mind to it (except for when they stared too long at the little blonde, then he would bare his fangs and they would quickly look away).

When they finally reached her small place, he once again didn't bother with the door and jumped up to the window. He balanced his weight on the outside sill and moved to unlock it, when he glanced inside. It was a mess. The bedsheets were torn off the bed and thrown away, the drawers were all pulled out and the contents were strewn messily around that area, even the things on her writing desk were pushed everywhere. He cringed at the desk because he knew, that if Lucy was back to he normal age, that all hell would break loose.

His expression turned serious again and he unlocked the window and carefully, avoiding the objects that were everywhere, landed in a slight crouch, with both his arms around the blonde. He did a full three hundred and sixty degree view of her room and stopped at her desk. There was a note, obviously left by whoever was here. Natsu picked it up and read it. What was on the paper made his blood run ice cold.

 **-A/N-**

 **also, I wanted to give a shout out to Fairies shipper! Thanks for the hilarious comment!**

 **Sorry it was a bit of a late update! I'm not gonna ha able to update on Easter cause I will be going to a friend's wedding and we (my family and I) will be staying in a cabin with no wifi! So, sorry, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	17. Chapter 17

**here ya go!**

 _-Chapter 17-_

Natsu stared at the paper in utter shock and rage. The paper said:

 _Bring the blonde girl to us,_

 _Or something will happen because she is a must._

 _If you don't bring her within forty eight hours,_

 _Make sure you have enough money to afford flowers._

 _Or we will come take her by force,_

 _And will kill you all of course._

His hands shook and he then proceeded to burn it to ashes. He growled and carefully placed the sleeping blonde down on the bed. He did another check of the room and cautiously checked out the rest of the house. Everything was pulled out of its place and chucked in all sorts of different places.

He walked back into the bedroom and went over to where Lucy was. He stared at her slumbering face and frowned, _why would they want someone as innocent as her?_ He thought confusedly. He shook his head and picked her back up. He did one more once over her apartment and walked over to her bedroom's window and opened it. He slowly climbed out and down. He started his trek back to the guild hall in a troubled manner, keeping his guard up.

When they arrived, they got a lot of confused glances and a few questions asking why they were back already. Natsu ignored them and went straight to Erza, who was sitting at their normal table talking to Gray.

"Erza, I need to talk to you," Natsu said seriously. Erza looked up at him and nodded, giving an apologetic look to Gray and stood up. Natsu handed Lucy to Gray for him to take care of her and giving the ice Mage a deadly glare saying, _if I come back and something happened to her, you're dead._ They walked to a deserted hallway and Natsu looked at her in such a serious manner, it started to worry Erza as to what was going on.

"What's the matter, Natsu?" The re-quip Mage asked in a concerned manner. "It's Lucy's apartment. They ransacked everything and left a note," he answered. "Where is the note?" Erza questioned, putting a hand on her hip. "Uh, yeah. About that, I kinda, maybe, uh-" he was cut off by Erza's death glare. "I accidentally burnt it," he said hurriedly, scared on what she would do to him.

She stared at him for a few seconds then sighed. Cause really, _what could she do?_ Natsu stood there with his eyes squinted shut, waiting for the expected explosion from the red head, but it never came. He opened his eyes cautiously and looked back at her. "Do you at least remember what it said?" She asked, knowing that it had to have said something bad for him to burn it. "It said, uh, hang on, gimme a sec," he mumbled, holding his head in his hands, trying really hard to remember what the evil thing said.

A minute later, he suddenly burst up, screaming "A-HA! I remember!". Erza waited patiently for him to get his words together. "It said, 'bring the blonde girl to us, or something will happen because she is a must. If you don't bring her within forty eight hours, make sure you have enough money to afford flowers. Or we will take her by force, and will kill you all of course'," he recited, looking troubled.

Erza had a strange look on her face, it was a mix between shocked and scared. "Well, did it have coordinates for a location or something?" She asked, looking at him. "It only had that weird rhyme," he replied, trying to remember if there was anything else. There was then a high pitched cry come from the main hall and Natsu was out of there in a heart beat. _He's got it bad for Lucy,_ Erza thought, shaking her head and walking to see what happened.

When Natsu arrived, he saw Lucy crying in Gray lap. Gray was trying to calm her down by making small ice sculptures and making funny faces. Everyone else was either hiding behind tables or chairs or watching with a face of amusement with a hint of fear, cause they new that once a particular Mage comes in, all hell will break loose. And it did.

Natsu was pouncing on Gray as soon as he worked out what was going on and a huge brawl broke out. Lucy was swept away from the fight into the arms of Levy McGarden. Lucy had stopped crying upon seeing the dragon slayer, but as soon as he started fighting and she couldn't see him due to the huge dust cloud, another fresh batch of tears came. In on their words, she was bawling her eyes out.

Levy was trying to console the little girl when she was suddenly taken out of her arms, surprisingly, by Gajeel. Levy stared dumbfounded at the pair when Lucy stopped the tears temporarily when she was put into Gajeel's arms. "Why isn't she crying anymore?" Levy asked, confused as ever. "It's 'cause she needs a Dragon Slayer an' Flame Brain aunt 'ere, so now he owes me one," Gajeel replied, rubbing Lucy's back soothingly. Lucy was only sniffling now, which still confused the Bookworm, but she didn't question it further.

Gajeel then sat down at their usual table -still holding Lucy- and started munching on pieces of metal. Levy then came and sat across from him and started reading another one of her spell books.

It took a few minutes, but the fight was eventually broken up by Erza and Mirajane. When Natsu sat at his usual table, which was across the hall from where Gajeel, Lucy and Levy were, he just glared at Gray. Then he realised _why_ he was glaring and looked around frantically for the petite Celestial Mage. He looked over to Gajeel's table and saw him holding her. A possessive growl escaped from his throat and he stood up and walked over to him. Gray and Erza watched silently from where they were sitting across from the Fire Dragon Slayer with interest.

Natsu stormed over to Gajeel and stopped right in front of him. He glared fiercely at the Metal Dragon, "Why are you touching Lucy?" He demanded. "Cause you were too busy fighting to notice that Bunny Girl was crying her eyes out, Salamander," The taller male replied, breezily. Natsu let out a small growl and carefully took Lucy back into his arms. He hugged her muttered something in her ear and she nodded in reply. He gave one last half hearted glare Gajeel's way and walked back to their original table and sat down.

"Happy now, Flame Brains?" Gray asked while making an ice sculpture. "What was that, Freezerburn?" Natsu replied, not moving from where he was. "I said, you happy now that you got your little girlfriend?" He repeated, rolling his eyes. "Yes, and she isn't my girlfriend," Natsu said back, leaning into the back of his chair with Lucy on his chest.

But Natsu really wasn't happy. He was scared and didn't know what to do about the incident that happened at Lucy's apartment and the note the assholes left. But he wouldn't think about that now, for Lucy's sake. It was getting really late now anyway, so they would have to go to his place for the night. "Me and Lucy are gonna go to my place for tonight," Natsu announced, standing up and going over to where Wendy and the Exceeds were. "You comin', Happy?" He asked the blue furred cat. "Aye! See ya Carla!" He exclaimed, waving to the white furred Lady-Cat and healer.

Happy flew up and sat on Natsu's right shoulder and gave him a curious glance, referring to the little girl that was perched on his other hip with his left arm secured around her. Natsu shook his head, dismissing the conversation for now, he would have to tell him later.

They walked out of the guild's doors and started their slightly longer walk to Natsu and Happy's house. When they arrived, Lucy was well asleep and snuggled into a Natsu's shoulder. He stepped carefully around his messy excuse of a house towards his hammock. He laid down in it and adjusted so that they were all comfortable. Natsu was laying with Lucy was using his chest as a pillow and his stomach as a bed,p and Happy curled into his side. He wrapped his right arm around Lucy and his left around Happy. The two boys soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

 **-A/N-**

 **so this one is a bit longer than usual, but I think you guys earned it by giving me 50 followers! I know it might not seem like much, but it still makes me proud whenever I look at the stats for this story. Honestly, I am very surprised so many people liked it! Anyway, don't forget to give me a review! Untill next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	18. Chapter 18

**GUESS WHO JUST SAW FATE OF THE FURIOUS AND BOSS BABY?! ME! Anyway, enjoy! (It's like 1:45 am)**

 _-Chapter 18-_

The next morning, Natsu was the first one to wake up and he just laid still, not wanting to disturb the slumbering Celestial Mage that was currently on his chest or his blue furred companion that was still curled into his side. He laid there for a few minutes until his stomach growled and he let out a small groan of annoyance, he was enjoying the warmth Lucy emitted and the comfortableness of his hammock. He gently jostled the sleeping blonde awake and sat up slightly. "Wake up, Luce. Breakfast time," he quietly announced to the girl who was wiping the sleep out of her eyes with small fists. "Huh?" She asked, confused. "Good mornin'!" Natsu chirped happily. Lucy looked up at him and realisation slowly took over her facial features, "Oh, good morning," she replied, smiling widely up at him.

Lucy leaned over and tapped Happy, saying, "Wakey-Wakey, Happy,". Happy stirred and mumbled something about fish, but didn't wake. Lucy's face overtook an expression of determination and tried again, with Natsu watching silently in wonder and amusement. By the fourth time Lucy attempted to wake the cat, she finally gave up and sat there with a cute little pout on her lips and crossed her arms. Natsu chuckled and picked the cat up and shook him slightly. Almost instantly, the Exceed was awake. Lucy watched in a grumpy manner, obviously annoyed that he didn't wake when she tried to wake him up.

Natsu picked them both up and got out of the hammock and placed them on the couch temporarily. He quickly grabbed his waistcoat and tugged his sandals on his feet. He picked them up again and strolled out the door, expertly dodging the mess known as his home.

It was a calm walk to the guild, with Lucy and Happy still waking up from their sleep. When they finally reached their destination, Natsu immediately went straight to the bar and ordered their food, then walked to their usual table where Erza and Gray were already seated. "Yo!" He greeted, sitting down across from them and putting Lucy in his lap. "Hey," they greeted in unison. "Anything new happen with what's happened to Lucy?" He asked in curiosity. Erza shook her head saying, "Unfortunately, Natsu, we haven't found anything new,". Natsu sighed in disappointment, hoping that nothing will happen in the next forty eight hours, like the stupid note said.

"What about the note I found and what's happening with Lucy's apartment?" Natsu asked around a mouthful of his newly delivered food. Lucy was eating some honey flavoured oatmeal when she felt a small tap on her leg. She looked down and saw a strange creature that looked like some sort of goblin or something. It was wearing a worn black cloak that hid most of its face and body, and no shoes. It gestured for Lucy to follow it and she carefully slipped down from Natsu's lap -somehow not attracting his attention- and started to follow it.

It lead her under tables and eventually to the back doors. It struggled to push the big doors open, so she decided to help by pushing on it too. She noticed that she was around the same size as it. It lead her outside and to the tree line, that lead into the forest. The strange creature disappeared into the thick bushes and she moved to follow it, but was picked up from behind by strong arms. "What are ya doing, Luce?" Natsu asked, holding her up and propped her on his hip. "There was this thing that wanted me to follow it. It needed help with something," she explained, looking towards the way the _thing_ disappeared. Natsu shook his head in disbelief and walked back towards the guild, "Don't make such things up, Luce," he chastised.

"I'm not, though..." she trailed off, looking over his shoulder and into the shadows of the forest. She could just make out red eyes, but quickly shook her head and looked again, but they were gone. _It was just nothing,_ she thought, shaking her head slightly. When the came back inside, Natsu was bombarded with questions from Erza concerning Lucy and what they were doing. "Nothin', Erza. She just wandered off, probably chasing a butterfly or something," Natsu answered, lazily. "Alright, then," the red head resented, going back to eating a slice of strawberry cake.

A few hours later, Natsu went over to Erza, after giving Lucy to Levy and Gajeel for the time being, to talk to her concerning Lucy's apartment and the mysterious note that was left behind. He motioned for her to follow him and they went up to Master Makarov's office to speak with him also.

Erza knocked on the wooden door and an old man's voice came drifted through with a "Come in,". They complied and walked in and sat down in front of the Master. "What is it, my children?" He asked in a fatherly tone, looking up from the papers that were strewn all over his mahogany desk. "Master, we have a problem concerning Lucy," Erza said sternly, looking at him with a steely gaze. "What happened to her?" He questioned, giving them his full attention. "When Luce and I went back to her place, I found it all messed up. Someone obviously broke in and looked through her stuff. They left a note on her desk that had these weird rhyming words and stuff," the Fire Mage explained with a perplexed look adorning his handsome face.

"My, my. Natsu, what did this note say?" The Master asked, trying to get answers. "Ah, I can't remember," he replied sheepishly. Makarov sighed heavily, knowing that he couldn't get it from Natsu now, so instead, he tried Erza to see if she was told what it said. When he looked questioningly at her, she understood and recited the poem to him. He nodded gravely, knowing very well what could happen if they didn't do what they asked.

"What do you think they are gonna do, Gramps?" The Fire Mage asked worriedly. "My boy, I'm sorry. I do not know what they are capable of-" He was cut off by Natsu's outburst, "The he'll we know what those bastards are capable of! They kidnapped Lucy, put her under a spell _and_ they threatened Fairy Tail!" He yelled, abruptly standing up and pointing to the door, trying to get his point across. He earned a dirty look from Erza, but she remained quiet. "I know, Natsu. You need to calm down," Master tried to calm the Flaming Dragon, but to no avail. Natsu was stilled severely angered by what the old man was saying, but did sit back down, putting his head in his hands with his elbows resting on his knees.

Master sighed in frustration, mumbling something about getting another drink. He looked over at the enraged Dragon Slayer, taking pity on the poor boy. _He is probably too worried about Lucy than anything else,_ the elder scoffed internally. "How about you go down to Lucy, while Erza and I discuss this problem, hm?" He suggested, "Lucy is probably getting bombarded by everyone else because she looks so cute," He smiled a fatherly smile. "OI, QUIT BEIN' A PERV, YA OLD MAN!" Natsu cried, racing out of his office at an abnormally fast pace, he could faintly hear Natsu screaming at anyone that got too close to the Celestial Mage.

"You may come out now, Delilah," 'Erza' announced towards a particularly dark corner in the room. A small Goblin-like creature crept out from the darkness. It turned into a short girl with dark brown hair that went just past her small shoulders and she wore the same ragged black cloak that his most of her face, and of course, no shoes. "Yes, Angie?" She answered, her head bowed.

"I told you not to call me that! My name is Time Keeper!" The before Erza, was now a average height girl, wearing the same cloak, but it was less tattered and more on the purple side. "Yes, Time Keeper," Delilah corrected, still keeping her gaze on the wooden floor beneath her. "Avangeline, give her break," a male voice murmured, standing where the 'Master' was originally standing. "We have our info, so let's get out of here before the real Master and Titania come back," he gestured towards the window that he was standing in front of. He opened it and checked all around, making sure no one was there to see them. He hefted himself onto the window sill and waited for the two females to come over. "Tch, whatever, Nick," Time Keeper mumbled, walking over with Delilah following slowly behind. Nick hoisted himself up onto the wall of the guild and climbed up towards the roof. Avangeline was close behind, with Delilah lagging behind quite a bit. "Hurry up, stupid girl," she ordered, she heard the smaller mage gasp and hurry her footing. When they all were on the roof, Nick summoned a portal and they jumped through, not noticing the piercing red eyes that were discreetly following them from another rooftop.

 **-A/N-**

 **as you could probs tell by my other AN, i have just seen Boss Baby and Fate of The Furious (Fast and Furious 8) and they were great movies! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm happy that you guys, surprisingly, aren't losing interest! So I thank you for that, and untill next time, don't forget to be awesome! I also want to add, Yes, Lucy will grow up in this story, just not yet!**


	19. Chapter 19

**GUESS WHOS BACK, BACK AGAIN!** ** _Anyway, yes. This is the next chapter of this story! Hope you enjoy! Also, thank you for 60 followers everyone!_**

 _-Chapter 19-_

When Natsu came rushing back into the main hall, he instantly went searching for Lucy. He found her where he left her, which was with Levy and Gejeel. The big brute was sitting across from the girls, eating bits and pieces of metal, looking bored and uninterested. Natsu could see that he was keeping his guard up in case anything suddenly happened to Levy or Lucy, because he knew that if anything happened to the Celestial Mage when Natsu wasn't in the room, he would be absolutely pissed. Levy was reading a book out loud about Solid Script Magic, with Lucy sitting next to her, watching and listening with complete interest.

He walked over and sat next to Lucy, deciding to start a conversation. "Yo, what ya up to, Luce?" He asked as he looked over the small girls shoulder -more like head- and pretended to read what was on the page. "Levy is teaching me about what kind of magic she uses, it's called Solid Script Magic!" She replied enthusiastically. Natsu nodded, already knowing that but wanted Lucy to think that he didn't. Gajeel grunted a greeting to Natsu after receiving a pointed look from Levy, but Natsu obviously took it the wrong way and shouted, "You wanna go?!" And stood up, slamming his hands on the table in front of him. "Yeah, I wanna go!" Gajeel then proceeded to butt heads with him and they gave each other a heated glare.

When Natsu started shouting, Lucy curled up into a ball next to Levy, covering her head with her arms. Natsu didn't notice the movement or change in atmosphere around the little girl and started a full on brawl with the Metal Dragon Slayer. "We can just move to a different table for now," Levy sighed, tapping the four year old on the shoulder and they scurried off to join Erza and Gray, the former too busy with her cake to stop the fighting. Levy just reopened the book on Solid Script Magic and began talking to Lucy about it again.

They were in a dark room, the only source of light was a small candle in the middle of the cement block that had papers strewn all over in a messy manner. Three figures, two larger ones with a much smaller one on their right, was standing on the opposite side of the 'table' to a man that was shrouded in a dark and tattered cloak.

"What is the next step in out operations, sir?" A feminine voice came from the figure in the middle, "We need to come up with a plan of attack, then we can snatch the girl while the rest are distracted and put her with the others, but," he paused and picked up a black and white, blurry picture of a certain Dragon Slayer and looked at it with an unreadable expression, "He is always going to be with the girl, so we need to put him under some kind of illusion spell or distract him. Our time is almost up, we need to act quickly," he then looked up at the three figures, mostly the two larger ones and nodded, dismissing them.

"Just you wait, Fairy Tail," he sneered, "Just you wait."

Levy was now reading Lucy a novel when Natsu slumped into the seat beside Lucy, groaning from the brawl that just happened. "Are you okay?" Lucy asked timidly. "Yeah," he grunted out breathlessly. She gave him one last skeptical look and went back to listening to Levy and absentmindedly petting Happy, who was asleep on her small lap. Natsu looked out one of the windows and noticed it got significantly darker than what it was last time he checked, _the fight must have gone on for way longer than I thought,_ he thought, now somehow getting a bunch of food and scarfing it down.

While Lucy was listening to Levy read, she kept feeling a strange pain in her stomach. As time moved on, it gradually got worse and worse. She placed a hand over her tummy, slowly rubbing it to test if the pain would go away. It didn't, the pain became sharper and seemed to dig deeper into her stomach, she let out a small whimper and clutched Happy's fur a bit tighter, but kept the strange pain a secret. She was positive that it would go away if she just had a good night's sleep.

"Natsu, can we go home?" She asked the Fire Mage, who was butting foreheads with a certain Ice Mage. He instantly turned towards her and exclaimed, "Sure we can! Let's go, Happy!" He called over to the blue exceed. Happy, upon hearing his name, he summoned his white feathery wings and flew from Lucy's lap. "Aye!" He shouted, picking up the blonde by the back of her shirt and lifting her up. She giggled in response and started saying her goodbyes. "See ya, Popsicle. Bye, Erza," Natsu called over his shoulder, following his two best friends.

When they reached Lucy's house, it was tidied up, curtesy of their guild mates. He was thankful of them, cause then they would have to go to his house again and in his opinion, her place was _way_ better than his. Plus, her bed was super comfy and it smelled like her. Not that he would ever actually admit that to anyone.

They went through their night routine and crawled into bed. Instead of Lucy on his chest like they have been sleeping like for awhile, he placed her in front of him and wrapped his arms around the sleeping blonde, facing the window.

He sighed, there was so much going on, he could hardly wrap his head around it. He laid there, just thinking about the entire situation. When thinking was starting to give him a headache, he just let out a deep breath and snuggled closer to the celestial Mage, keeping in mind to keep his ears open. Just before he fell into unconsciousness, he lazily wrapped a part of his scarf around the shoulders of Lucy, grinning. _She looks good in my scarf,_ was his last thought of the night.

 **-A/N-**

 **yes, I know it has been a long time since I last updated, but I've had a bit of trouble with life and had a minor writers block. I had NAPLAN this week, but hey, I survived. Guess who's birthday it is today? That's right, mine! I am so happy and I am going to Lattatude to celebrate with all my friends. I was recently asked out by my guy best friend, but I haven't replied yet cause I don't know if I still like him or not. (I've known him for six years now). Tell me what your opinion is in the box below! I accept anything and everything. Anyways, fav, follow and review and untill next time, don't forget to be awesome!**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20, ready for reading! Hope you enjoy and sorry about the long wait!**_

 _-Chapter 20-_

The next morning, Natsu woke up to an empty bed. _Oh no, where did she go?!_ He immediately thought of the worst conclusions, when he heard the toilet flush and a door open. He sat up in bed, leaning on the plams of his hands and looked over to the door where Lucy's bathroom was located. A small blonde, about the age of four, quietly creeped out of the tiled room. When she turned around, she gasped in surprise -quick to hide the sick look on her face-, not expecting the dragon slayer to be awake by now. Natsu didn't have much time to react when she ran up and jumped onto him, causing him to sit up straight in order to catch the Celestial Mage.

"Mornin', Luce!" He laughed, warmly smiling down at the blonde that was in his lap. "Good morning!" She replied happily, snuggling into his toned stomach, slightly wrapping herself in the tangled sheets. Natsu laughed at her cuteness and proceeded to lift her up, catching her by surprise. She squealed when he lifted her above his head, her looking down into calming onyx eyes and him looking up to warm chocolate brown ones. They stared at each other for a bit, not realising their weird position.

When Natsu's arms were getting sore, he finally let her down on the bed and let her go. She sat energetically in front of him, slightly bouncing in place.

"What got you to be so energetic?" He asked, curious. "I dunno," she simply replied, bouncing into his warm arms again. They snuggled for a little while longer, enjoying each others warmth while in the safety of the others arms.

 _~~At The Guild~~_

Team Natsu, minus Natsu and Lucy, were sitting at their usual table. Erza was eating her strawberry cake, Happy was sitting on the table eating another fish, Wendy was helping Porlyusica in the infirmary and Gray was starting another fight. Titania was just getting up to order another cake from Mira, when said woman walked up to her table with a worried expression on her beautiful face. Mirajane sat in front of the red-head and waited for her to notice her, which she did so almost instantly.

"Is something wrong, Mira?" She asked in concern, wondering what could possibly be wrong with the oldest Strauss sibling. "Yes-well, I think so," She replied, glancing away from her. "What is it?" Erza asked again, "I am worried about Lucy and when she will grow up," Mira answered. "Well, Levy said that it will take a couple months for the spell to wear off," The re-quip Mage explained, frowning in thought for a moment. "Yes, but what about those people who kidnapped her?" The other woman inquired. "Well..." For the first time in a very long time, Erza didn't have anything to counter what she said. Mira nodded knowingly, not surprised that the Mighty Erza didn't know either.

"We'll have to ask Levy," Erza suggested, looking around for the blue haired Mage. "Yes, I suppose," Mira agreed. When the re-quip Mage located Levy, she called over to her, wanting to gain her attention. After two calls, Levy's head popped up from where she was reading a book at a table, sitting next to Gajeel. Erza waved her over and she obeyed, closing her book in the process, leaving a scowling Gajeel behind.

"What's up?" She asked, looking at the two women. "Levy, I was wondering, how long has Lucy been under the spell?" Mira asked looking worried. "Uh, about... five weeks?" She answered, but it sounded more like a question. "Hm," Erza hummed, propping her thumb on her chin in thought. Levy raised an eyebrow, confused about why she was asking.

Just when Erza was about to open her mouth and say something, the guild's huge oak doors slammed open, scaring a few guild mates in the process.

"WE'RE BACK!" Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs, one of his arms behind his back. When the commotion died down, he gently pulled his arm back to his side, but there was something attached to his hand. It was a smaller, paler hand that was clutching his larger, more tanned one. Lucy was standing shyly next to him, attempting to hide behind Natsu's arm. Mira was having a field day, stealing about how the 'NaLu' was in action. Erza just ignored her, asking for more cake instead.

"Come on, lets go see Erza, yeah?" He asked gently, looking downwards. Lucy nodded, still quite shy about their entrance and all the eyes glued to the pair. Natsu started to walk forward, going over to their usual table where Erza, Gray and Happy were. When they reached it, they split off with Natsu going to start another Guild brawl, and Lucy sitting next to Erza and peering over the other side of the table. She observed the blue cat eating yet another one of his fish, seemingly ignoring the world around him. She couldn't wish for anything more.

 _~~~Time skip: One Month~~~_

Over the past month, the pains in Lucy's stomach have become worse and worse. She still didn't want her friends to be worried over a small stomach pain, but it's been going on for over a _month_. She knew she would have to tell someone eventually.

Right now, she would just enjoy the comfortable warmth she was laying upon at her apartment. It was around ten in the morning that the team was watching movies on a projector lacrima that was floating in the middle of the room. Erza was on Lucy's one seater couch and Gray was sprawled out on her other couch. Natsu was laying on her bed with a hand supporting his head and Lucy spread out on his stomach, using his chest as a comfortable pillow. Happy was curled up next to the two partners, sleeping soundly.

They were in the middle of watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when the pain fully hit her. Lucy gasped in pain and surprise, immediately sitting up and clutching her stomach. In an instant, Natsu was sitting up as well and Happy jumped in surprise, Natsu linking his arms around her and asking if she was okay. The blonde tried to open her mouth and talk, when all that came out was a strangled cry. Happy looked worried and scared for the Celestial Mage, truly not wanting her to be hurt anymore.

"Erza!" Natsu called over to the re-quip Mage that was sitting up, eyes filled with concern. When Natsu was calling Erza over to the pair, Gray sat up and paused the movie, turning the lights on afterwards. "What's happening?" Gray asked, worried for the girl in his rival's arms.

"I don't know! She was fine a second ago," Natsu responded, sitting on the edge of her bed. When he tried to move Lucy's arms away, she just whimpered and wrapped them tighter around herself, not letting the Fire Mage to touch her stomach. "We need to get her to the guild hall," He demanded, shifting the girl so that he carried her in his strong arms. The other two followed close behind, running through the door instead of the window like Natsu had.

They rushed to the guild hall as fast as they could, doing their best at dodging the many pedestrians that littered the streets of Magnolia. Natsu accidentally knocked into a shady looking man, throwing a rushed apology over his shoulder, not looking twice at him. Erza, Gray and Happy were close behind, the blue haired cat was flying just above their heads, making sure that nothing was in their way. The people that crowded the streets made a somewhat useful path that was cleared so they could pass by quicker, a few people had worried looks on their faces, but went back to their daily routines after the Fairy Tail mages passed.

When Natsu stumbled through the wooden doors of the guild, Lucy was sobbing into his chest, clutching his scaly scarf for comfort.

"Wendy!" Natsu yelled, searching for the young healer. Erza and Gray stormed in after, immediately going to the upstairs where they would alert the master of what was happening. Wendy shot up from her seat, which happened to be on the first floor with Carla, and rushed over.

"What's the matter?" She asked, keeping her voice calm. "I dunno, we were just relaxing in Luce's apartment, when she just started to cry," Natsu explained frantically. "Okay, that doesn't sound good. Is she hurt anywhere?" She asked, looking at the girl cradled in his arms. "Uh, she's not letting me touch her stomach and she looks like she's hurtin' there, too," Natsu reported, lifting Lucy closer. "Okay, lets go to the infirmary and place her on one of the beds," Wendy was in full nurse mode, which meant no room for arguments, not that he would argue when his partner was in any kind of pain.

They raced to the hospital-like room, Natsu gently placed the four year old on one of the beds, keeping close to her. She came over and held her hands above the girl, a soft greenish-blue light coming from her open palms. She had a troubled look in her face, which Natsu had noticed instantly. Wendy paused her magic with a worried, yet relieved expression. "What's happening with her?" Natsu asked, looking at the blonde with a strange look in his eye.

"Natsu, the spell is wearing off, but… she will be put through an unbelievable amount of pain," Wendy said, a tired look came across her face, before being replaced by a bittersweet smile. "…What?" A variety of different expressions crossed his face; anger, sadness and relief. He was mad at the fact that whoever those bastards were, put his Lucy in danger and under the spell in the first place. He was upset that she has to go through _pain_ to be able to get back to normal, and he couldn't do anything about it. But most importantly, he was happy that she _would_ be getting back to normal, and he promised that whichever asshole did this, would pay the full price. _No matter what, I will get my revenge for Lucy_ , he mentally promised with a dark and sinister look in his eyes. But for now, he would just watch over his partner with a look of care and affection for the Celestial Mage.

 _~~In an unknown location~~_

He was just minding his own business, when someone suddenly knocked into him, almost making him fall to the ground in surprise. He glanced up at the man, who he instantly recognised as one of his Boss's targets: pink spiky hair, onyx eyes, strange style of clothing and a scaly scarf. It all matched the description. Natsu Dragneel. The Fire Mage quickly picked up his pace again, throwing a rushed "Sorry!" Over his shoulder, not looking back. His other two friends ran past, not paying him any mind whatsoever.

He returned to his Boss's secret headquarters, and told him everything. The burly man was silent, flipping a coin between his chubby fingers, looking as if he was thinking over the information given intently. He grunted his acceptance after a minute or two, waving his minion off. Soon, Fairy Tail, the Celestial Magic would be theirs to use, once they got the Mage who wielded it, of course. But that was one of the many problems with this plan, the stupid dragon slayer was always with her, no matter what. They had to try and get rid of him as soon as possible. If they were lucky, they could get it done before the spell ran out, but even he doubted that. It was only a few days left that Lucy Heartfilia was under the age restriction spell. He had to act fast, and fast he would.

 _~~Fairy Tail Guild Hall Infirmary~~_

Worried was an understatement, he was beyond just _worried_. Just the mere thought of her in danger put Natsu Dragneel on edge. He was sitting beside Lucy's medical bed, clutching her smaller hand in his big one, gently rubbing his thumb over her pale knuckles. Lucy was fast asleep under the covers, a peaceful look plastered on her tiny face. He was deep in thought when she stirred but didn't open her eyes, only just getting his attention when she made a sound of discomfort. He snapped his head up, searching her face for any signs that she had woken up. But, sadly for him, she was just moving into a different position, moving closer to the side of the bed he was sitting near.

He guessed she was cold, judging by the slight shivering she was doing. He hesitantly lifted the covers up, carefully laying down beside his partner. Her gently grabbed her around the waist and hauled her over to him, in which she instantly cuddled up to his side for warmth. The Fire Mage rested his arm around her body, keeping her close. _Soon, soon you should be back to my normal Luce_ , was his final thought before her succumbed to the world of darkness and dreams.

 **-A/N-**

 **im so sorry for the late update, it's been over two months, I reckon. I apologise for the wait, but I was super busy and kinda forgot to update the story. This chapter is around double the amount of words for a normal chapter, like I wanted it to be. I'm thinking of ending th story in a couple chapters time, and yes, LUCY IS GROWING UP. I thank you everyone who reveiwed, favourited and followed! I waited untill I got a total of 10,000 views, which I did and am super happy! P.s, don't expect super fast updates, because I won't be able to. I hope you enjoyed and untill next time, Don't Forget To Be Awesome!**


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